


Micro-fics

by Leni



Category: Multi-Fandom
Genre: F/M, Gen, six words challenge, ten words challenge
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2014-09-21
Updated: 2017-07-11
Packaged: 2018-02-18 06:41:24
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 38
Words: 29,581
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/2338883
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Leni/pseuds/Leni
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>As the title says.</p><p>01. OUAT - Various characters. Prompt: <a href="http://comment-fic.livejournal.com/558536.html?thread=78471624#t78471624">SILENCE</a>.</p><p>02. BtVS - Buffy Summers, several alternate realities. Prompt: <a href="http://comment-fic.livejournal.com/558536.html?thread=78777032#t78777032">POWER</a>.</p><p>03, 04, 10, 15. Multi-fandom. 10 words each (or 20, or 30.)</p><p>05. Multi-fandom. 6 words each (or 12, or 18...)</p><p>06. Multifandom. 3-sentence fic.</p><p>07, 17. Multifandom. 5-sentence fic.</p><p>08. Multifandom. 23 words.</p><p>09. Multifandom. 1-sentence fic.</p><p>11 + 13. FullMetal Alchemist</p><p>12.  Multifandom. 27 words.</p><p>14. Firefly</p><p>16. Multifandom. 25 words.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> Prompt: Silence

**CHARACTERS**

 

 **Baelfire. (1st visit to Neverland)**

The cave doesn't answer his prayers.

 

 **Belle. (S1)**

Any voice other than hers... please?.

 

 **Cora.**

Her orders smother Wonderland's peaceful silence.

 

 **David. (S1)**

His heart shushes down his conscience.

 

 **Emma.**

If she shouts, she's not silenced.

 

 **Henry.**

What if he'd never spoken up?

 

 **Hook.**

His brother's ghost stares on disapprovingly.

 

 **Peter Pan.**

Boy's shrieks fill the island instead.

 

 **Regina.**

Regrets die faster when kept silent.

 

 **Robin. (S3B)**

"Marian?" He's speechless after that.

 

 **Rumpelstiltskin. (S3B)**

He can't hear his son anymore.

 

 **Snow.**

Ever optimistic, she silences her doubts.

 

**RELATIONSHIPS**

 

 **Belle/Rumpelstiltskin. (pre-curse)**. 

He spins, and she strays closer.

 

 **Belle/Rumpelstiltskin**

Words ruin everything; but they're learning.

 

 **Snow/Charming.**

A shared look tells them everything.


	2. Chapter 2

**Canon:**

Every Potential comes to full power.

 

 **Morning After & Other Fairytales:**

She feels strongest when she's happy..

 

 **Courting Sin:**

It's give-and-take, between Angel and her.

 

 **Courting Sin (wish!verse):**

She refuses to share with Kendra.

 

 **Unforgettable:**

This second chance _will_ be protected.

 

 **Unchosen:**

She doesn't need the Slayer's powers

 

 **Passion:**

She is broken, but never powerless.


	3. Multifandom - 10 words

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Written at[Comment Fic](http://comment-fic.livejournal.com/575301.html)

**author's choice, author's choice, orange** (Black Jewels) 

Daemon squeezes a section of the orange and sucks at its juices. Every witch wants to lick his fingers afterwards.

 

 **Any, any/any, blowing kisses** (BtVS)

Willow blows a kiss toward the stage, and Xander reminds himself not to snatch it and keep it for himself. 

 

 **Any, any/any, there's a time and a place for slow lovemaking; this isn't it** (BtVS. Willow/Oz)

It's her first time, but it could be the last time. She wants this _now_ ; they can be slow tomorrow.

 

**Emma, Emma Woodhouse/George Knightley, he tried not to fall for her**

She's so young, so happy and beautiful!

And he's... not.

 

**Firefly, Kaylee Frye, hard things happen whether you smile or not**

There's death, pain, and too much loss.

Kaylee smiles on.

 

**Fullmetal Alchemist, Alphonse Elric, Kitty!**

Alphonse learns to walk behind his brother, but he learns to run - laughing and tripping - while chasing the neighbor's kittens.

 

**Fullmetal Alchemist, Scar, sacrifice**

He always meant to sacrifice himself, never anyone else!

 

**Harry Potter, any Muggleborn, old habits**

Every summer, Lily enjoys fair rides and pink cotton candy.

 

**Harry Potter, any, lions**

After watching that documentary, Hermione is glad she's a _lioness_.

 

 **Highlander, Methos, tamer of horses**

Horses don't notice immortality, just that he feeds them today.

 

 **author's choice, author's choice, violet** (Inuyasha)

Rin doesn't know the name of these flowers, but she collects the pretty blossoms that remind her of Sesshoumaru-sama's markings.

 

 **Any, any/any, undercover marriage with attached honeymoon** (La Femme Nikita)

"It's a trap," Nikita whispers against Michael's ear, aware they're surrounded by Section's and Red Cell's microphones.

Ever mindful of the cameras, Michael's nod becomes a kiss on her shoulder.

 

**Looney Tunes/Merrie Melodies, Wile E. Coyote, Oops**

Another cliff. Another bomb. Another hastily pulled wooden sign: _Oops!_

 

 **Marvel Cinematic Universe, Clint Barton, you think I know anything about tears?**

Clint freezes at the sight of Natasha's tears, then, gingerly, approaches. "Please don't hurt me if I do anything wrong." 

 

 **Marvel Cinematic Universe, Natasha Romanoff/Bucky Barnes, We were meant to be but a twist of fate / made it so we had to walk away**

They don't remember anything; but when they fight, they _know_.

 

 **any, any/any, pillow fight** (MCU. Natasha/Clint)

Showered in feathers, Natasha laughs, uncaring that Clint's won tonight.

 

**Marvel Cinematic Universe, Natasha Romanoff, she doesn't believe in fairytales**

She believes in slaying dragons, but happily-ever-afters aren't her forte.

 

**Marvel Cinematic Universe, Tony Stark, clothes make the man**

The expensive suits yelled that he owned the world.

In red and gold, now he's someone who can save it. 

 

**Marvel Cinematic Universe, Natasha Romanoff/Clint Barton, she'd like to surgically implant a sense of self-preservation**

"If you take more unnecessary risks, I'll kill you myself!"

 

**Marvel Cinematic Universe, any, making wishes**

Clint points at a shooting star. "Got a wish?"

"Nope," Natasha says, cuddling closer. "You?"

"Got everything I need already."

 

 **author's choice, author's choice, fate** (Once Upon A Time)

Rumpelstiltskin introduces himself to Cora's daughter gladly, eager to start.

 

**Once Upon a Time, Jefferson, royalty**

With the Dark One as his patron and his hat at his command, Jefferson doesn't fear royalty and their whims.

 

**Once Upon a Time, Jefferson, a new world**

This magic-less land is full of wonders he can't appreciate.

 

**Once Upon a Time, Jefferson, past**

There's nothing worth recounting from before he found his Hat.

 

**Once Upon a Time, Jefferson, madness**

If madness is repeating the same pattern over and over....

 

 **Superman: the Animated Series, Superman/Lex Luthor, power**  
Power isn't important, the alien claims. Lex loves his naiveté.

 

 **Superman: TAS, Lex Luthor/Clark Kent, secrets**

Lex wants to know everything about Superman's new buddy. _Everything._

 

 **Superman: TAS, Superman/Lex Luthor, inappropriate emotions**

Snapping Luthor's neck would be bad. Feeling _this_ is worse.

 

 **Superman: TAS, Lex Luthor/Superman, forbidden**

"You're not supposed to be here, Superman."

"You'll stop me?"

 

**Superman: TAS, Superman/Lex Luthor, genderswap**

"Lighten up. Your lipstick didn't even get smeared on the chase," Lianne says, smiling knowingly despite the handcuffs, "...this time."

 

**Superman: TAS, Superman/Lex Luthor, flirting**

Lex smirks as big hands straighten his suit. "Making me pretty for the police?"

"Maybe." The hands linger. "Maybe not."

 

**Superman: TAS, Superman/Lex Luthor, First kiss**

Lex blinks, surprised. "Why so gentle?"

"Because you need it."

 

**Superman: TAS, Clark Kent/Lex Luthor, dating**

He got the frazzled reporter a coffee out of pity, stuck around out of curiosity. "Dinner on me?"

Clark laughs.

 

**Supernatural: Sam Winchester, The Boyking**

Little Sam has no lands, throne, or crown. But Dean swears to protect him, and one faithful knight is enough.

 

 **Any, any/any, overprotective** (Tangled)

"It's normal," Eugene tells her soothingly when Rapunzel confesses she's tired of guards following her everywhere. "I believe parents - especially your parents - have the right to be a little overprotective."

 

**The Secret Garden (1993), Dickon +/ Mary Lennox, secrets**

Dickon never says she's the wildest creature he ever tamed.

 

 **any, any/any, she steals the pillows, he hogs the covers** (Veronica Mars. Logan/Veronica)

"Gimme!"

"No."

"But I'm _freezing_."

"Do I get my pillow back?"

 

**Wreck-It Ralph, Vanellope, child**

She's not a little child-princess anymore than Ralph's a villain.

 

 **X-Men (movieverse), John/Bobby, regret.**  
He misses saving his flames from Bobby's playful icy shots.


	4. Multifandom - 10 words

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Written at [Comment Fic](http://comment-fic.livejournal.com/588339.html?page=6#comments)

**Any, any, mission impossible.**

"You should forget about her," people say.

 _Impossible,_ he thinks.

 

**The Secret Garden/Little Princess, Sara Crewe/Colin Craven, he courted her with a garden**

Her childhood has been spent in fantasies and story-telling - just like his - but the garden where he takes her is the first sign that all her dreams may come true.

 

**Superman: TAS, Lex Luthor/Superman, Harry Potter AU**

Everybody assumes the hero of the Wizarding World is a Gryffindor. Only Lex looks at the fumbling Hufflepuff and wonders...

 

**Biblical, author's choice, daemon AU**

The first sign is the bird that refuses to leave the tomb. Others scoff at the notion that it's the daemon of a crucified man, but Jesus's followers know better.

 

**Batman: TAS, Batman/The Joker, blood red**

He wants to drown all that black in bright red, paint the Bat in fresh blood from his own veins.

 

**any, any/any, arranged marriage (Black Jewels series)**

Few mention Jaenelle's first marriage, arranged against her will and signed in a drugged haze, but all of Kaeleer whispers about the bloody mess she left around her marriage bed.

 

**BtVS/AtS, Darla, regret**

Half a century later, she decides that keeping Angelus's broken self would have been better than eternity in Nest's court.

 

**Any, any/any, everyone already knows. (BtVS/AtS)**

Once she announced her and Angel's renewed relationship, Buffy expected disbelief and hard questions, not money changing hands as her friends settled the bets made since she'd moved to L.A.

 

**Any, any, sharing the last cookie. (BtVS/AtS)**

It was the last chocolate chip cookie, and Willow was pointedly looking away, but Xander broke it in half anyway.

 

**Charmed, Chris, liar**

He doesn't enjoy lying to everybody, but he can't stop.

 

**Emma, George Knightley/Emma Woodhouse, domestic negotiations**

"But Father says...."

Her husband gives her that stare, and Emma remembers she has another man's opinion to consider now.

 

**Firefly, any, cooking disaster**

There's no way to make protein bars taste well, and Kaylee's latest attempt is proof that one shouldn't even _try_.

 

**author's choice, author's choice, across the ocean (Gone With The Wind)**

Green eyes follow him across the ocean, but it's her artless fire when angered that drags him back to Atlanta.

 

**Any. Any. "If your mother could see you now." (Gone With The Wind)**

"If your poor mother could see you now," Mammy says, shaking her head.

Scarlett stiffens, but signs the order to hire more conscripts anyway.

She will think of Ellen tomorrow.

 

**Harry Potter, any, family histories**

George's children hear of Fred Weasley, but they only get rare glimpses of their dead uncle when their father laughs.

 

**any, any, tame dragons, or housebroken if you'd rather (How To Train Your Dragon)**

Buckets of water everywhere, and all the breakables must be hidden away from curious whiskers and careless tails, but everybody in Berk loves having a dragon as a permanent houseguest.

 

**Any, Any, charity (Once Upon A Time)**

To help a desperate father could be considered charity, but Zoso knows his motives haven't been as kind in decades.

 

**Once Upon a Time, Jefferson, forgiveness**

Vengeance has no place when he must focus on raising Grace. It's the closest thing to forgiveness he can offer.

 

**any, any, damned if you do - damned if you don't (Once Upon A Time)**

If Neal stays, he interferes with her destiny. If he goes, he'll break Emma's heart.

She'll hate him either way.

 

**author's choice, author's choice, war (Once Upon A Time)**

He fears no defeat from armies or magic; but arguing with his maid has become a war Rumpelstiltskin cannot win.

 

**any, any, tears (Once Upon A Time)**

He broke the world to erase the memory of his son's tears. He'll shatter himself to make up for Belle's.

 

**Superman: TAS, Lex Luthor/Clark, broken glasses**

Broken glasses give him the excuse to stumble into Lex every other minute and - as he's supposed to be functionally blind - spy the other man's smile when he catches him.

 

**Superman: TAS, Lex Luthor/Clark Kent, secret**

Whatever this is - not friendship, not an alliance, never ever _love_ \- must stay hidden from the rest of the world.

 

**Superman: TAS, Lex Luthor/Superman, making out**

"We should do this in public," Lex practically purrs. "Shock them all to death."

Superman sighs, but it's a fond sound. "I thought I'd talked you out of mass murder."

 

**Superman: TAS, Superman/Lex Luthor, flying**

"You do it on purpose!" Lex yells, smoothing his wrinkled suit.

The alien smirks. "You're the one who clung tight."

 

**any, any, Mars (Veronica Mars)**

"Mars," the young woman sneers, already on the defensive.

Veronica doesn't know the name of this potential witness, but she knows something else. "You went to Neptune High, didn't you?"


	5. Multifandom - 6 words

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Written for [Comment Fic](http://comment-fic.livejournal.com/591311.html). Prompt: **six-word stories**.

**author's choice, author's choice, and beats high mountain down**

Love is the award at the end, but hope is what beats down the mountains along the way.

 

**any, any, family**

You can't choose family, but you can try to love them anyway.

 

**The Secret Garden/A Little Princess, Colin Craven/Sara Crewe, a perfect lady**

A gifted storyteller smiling at his tales of magic.

She is _perfect_.

 

**The Secret Garden/A Little Princess, Sara Crewe/Colin Craven, fireside**

Watching the fire at Colin's side, Sara slowly tells him about all the months she went without warmth.

 

**Anastasia (1997). Dmitri +/ Anya. Princess lessons**

Anya eyes him distrustfully the first time he kisses her hand. Half an hour later she's giggling at the 'silly' gesture. By the time she's learned to remain aloof despite his closeness, Dimitri regrets the lesson.

 

**Angel, Connor, sometimes**

Sometimes he misses Father and Quor-Toth.

 

**Any Renner fandom, any Renner character, redemption (Angel the Series, Penn)**

He'd have followed Angelus to hell. But never down this ridiculous road!

 

**Being Human, George/Mitchell, pre-series moment.**

"Don't you growl at me, eh!"

 

**any, any/any, pushed into the swimming pool (Big Bang Thoery. Raj + Penny/Leonard)**

"If you won't get a room," Raj told the spluttering couple, "you can cool off for a while."

 

**Any, any het, snuggly asexuals (Big Bang Theory)**

At least Sheldon allows snuggling now.

 

**The Big Bang Theory, Leonard/Penny, noise**

Weird: Leonard giggles. 

Weirder: In his sleep.

Weirdest: She's charmed by it.

 

**Breakfast Club, Alison, attending different detentions.**

Boring.

 _So_ boring.

Kill me now.

 

**Any, Any, Hogwarts AU. (Buffy the Vampire Slayer)**

Willow was the first Hufflepuff to cast an Unforgivable Curse before graduation. 

 

**Any, M+F, Picnic (Buffy the Vampire Slayer)**

Willow calls it teatime with her favorite dolls. As long as there are chocolate cookies, Xander doesn't care.

 

**Any, any rare or unlikely pairing, mistletoe kiss (Buffy the Vampire Slayer, Boston'verse)**

Buffy wants to strip her apartment from mistletoe the moment she sees her sister dragging Spike under it.

 

**Any, any, success. (Buffy the Vampire Slayer, Buffy, post-Chosen)**

Every quiet birthday feels like victory.

**any, any, surprise kink (Buffy the Vampire Slayer, Anya/Xander, x5)**

"Tying you up was fun."

Smirk. "Agreed."

"And the paddling was... surprisingly hot."

A hand down his sore-tingly bottom. "Told you so."

"But we really need to discuss the biting."

 

**Any, any, famous last words (Buffy the Vampire Slayer)**

"Aren't you short for a Slayer?"

**Firefly, any, happy belated birthday**

"What's this for?"

"You were frozen .." Simon put the little box on her lap. "Open it now, sis."

 

**Frasier, Any, EDDIE!**

"Eddie?"

Frasier hadn't lost his father's beloved pet. He didn't feel like a five-year-old as a result.

"EDDIE!"

 

**Fullmetal Alchemist, any/any, hug?**

Edward hesitates while Winry decides whether to throw a wrench at his head or herself into his arms.

 

**any, any, pudding (Gilmore Girls, Rory/Logan)**

Rory, appalled: "That's hospital food!"

He licks the spoon clean. "It's good."

 

**Iliad, any/any, why**

"Why did you go?"

Menelaus expects an ode to her dead lover, but gets Helen's truth instead. "I never expected you to follow me."

 

**Iron Man, Tony Stark/Pepper Potts, Morning**

Stealing more cuddle-time in the morning was worth Pepper's wrath when she discovered he'd messed with her alarm.

 

**Any, any AI character, they prefer electronic senses to human ones**

Human senses can be easily deceived, but full body scans never lie.

 

**Marvel movies, ex-Winter Soldier, safe**

He doesn't remember what safety means, except he can't offer it anymore.

 

**Marvel movies, Steve Rogers, save**

The hero who can save the world - but not his best friend.

 

**Marvel Cinematic Universe, any, platonic sleeping**

Tony glances at the ginger and redhead curled together. Behind him, Clint wolf-whistles. "I'm trying to drag my mind out of the gutter, Barton."

"Any success?"

"Not particularly," Tony admits.

 

**any, any het, who tugs whose hair in bed?***

Tony's scalp stings the next morning; his grin tells of no complaint.

 

**Marvel movies, ex-Winter Soldier, hope**

He can't hope to _remember_. But... making new memories... somewhere else... maybe?

 

**Marvel movies, Steve Rogers + Bucky Barnes, comfort**

"I won't let anything happen to you," Bucky promises.

Steve believes him.

 

**Marvel movies, ex-Winter Soldier, autumn**

His memories have yellowed and drifted away, but he waits for spring.

 

**author's choice, author's choice, howl (Mercy Thompson)**

Growing up in Aspen Creek meant that when they mourned Peter, Mercy's coyote form howled among the wolves.

 

**Much Ado About Nothing - Shakespeare, Beatrice/Benedick, summer sun**

Too hot for physical closeness, but not for teasing and mighty squabbles.

 

**Once Upon a Time, Cora or Regina, blood**

They take their enemies' hearts to kill their hope without spilling blood.

 

**author's choice, author's choice, storm (Once Upon A Time)**

Rumpelstiltskin plots, discomforted by her presence. This will surely drive her back to her rooms! Thunder booms. Lightning cracks the skies...

Grinning, the girl sneaks under the curtains to watch.

 

**Once Upon a Time, Jefferson, blood**

Regina laughs, and a furious Jefferson dismisses any immediate bloodshed. She deserves worse - the Dark One's claws digging for her heart.

And he knows exactly how to make that happen.

 

**Once Upon a Time, Jefferson, hat**

Storybrooke now has magic... and powerful enemies.

Jefferson makes a new hat - a new portal - just in case.

 

**Once Upon a Time, Cora, queen**

She's called the Queen of Hearts, but she's really an enthusiastic collector.

 

**Once Upon a Time, Regina, queen**

The Evil Queen has no love or mercy, just a broken heart.

 

**Once Upon a Time, Jefferson, mad**

Nobody blames him for his past actions. In Storybrooke, losing a child is an accepted excuse for madness.

 

**Once Upon a Time, Jefferson + Regina, once**

Once, he could have told Regina the truth of Rumpelstiltskin's plan.

Once, she could have chosen another scapegoat on their trip to Wonderland.

Once, they might have learned to trust.

 

**Once Upon a Time, Grace, awake**

Awake but still fatherless, Grace tries not to envy everybody else's happiness.

 

**any, any, giants (Once Upon A Time)**

Anton liked becoming the eighth dwarf.

 

**Any, any/any, love letters (Pride and Prejudice)**

Elizabeth smiles at the letters she gets while visiting Longbourn, but she treasures his very first attempt best.

**Superman: TAS, Clark Kent/Lex Luthor, first kiss**

"You look like you want to kiss me."

"How perceptive, Mr. K---."

 

**Superman: TAS, Clark Kent/Lex Luthor, discovery**

"You've been lying all this time?!"

 

**Superman: TAS, Clark Kent/Lex Luthor, wine and dine**

"This isn't an interview..."

"No, it's not," Lex agreed.

"We're dating?"

A smile. "For half an hour already."

 

**Superman: TAS, Lex Luthor/Clark Kent, meet the parents**

"Clark is... special."

Martha gave a curious look, then nodded. "You'll do."

 

**Superman: TAS, Clark Kent/Lex Luthor, first time**

Since their first date, Clark hasn't been able to tell Lex there needs to be a _last_ one.

 

**Superman: TAS, Lex Luthor/Clark Kent + Mercy Graves, reactions**

Compared to the alien, Mercy approves of the direction of her boss's latest obsession. "This way, Mr. Kent."

 

**Superman: TAS, Lex Luthor/Superman, ache**

Kryptonite hurts less than Lex's anger.

 

**Superman: TAS, Clark Kent/Lex Luthor, wedding bells**

"High society weddings are _boring_ ," Clark whines.

Lex smirks. "Ours wouldn't be."

 

**Superman: TAS, Lex Luthor/Clark Kent, naked**

"I expected you to be hairless all over."

"Disappointed?"

"Not at all."

 

**Superman: TAS/Batman: TAS, Clark Kent/Lex Luthor + Batman, "you have got to be kidding me."**

"At least we're getting some, Bat."

 

**Any, any het, wall sex. (Veronica Mars. Veronica/Logan)**

"We'll wake the neighbors..."

"Don't. Care."

 

**any, any, tennis (Veronica Mars)**

Watching Veronica and Logan squabble - even if it's only over take-out choices - is like watching a tennis match where points go to the snarkiest.

 

**X-Men Movieverse, Erik Lehnsherr +/or Kitty Pryde, synagogue**

Magneto needs silence; Erik comes here.


	6. Multifandom - 3 sentences

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Written for [Comment Fic](http://comment-fic.livejournal.com/592174.html).

**Batman: TAS, Batman/The Joker/Harley Quinn, date night**

"No hostages," Bruce warns the other man, trying to be satisfied when the Joker shrugs in agreement, and turns to the blonde between them, "not even if they stare at your boyfriend's face."

"But that's so rude!" Harley protests.

"Don't worry, darling," the Joker says, sniggering and pointing at their masked companion, "the cowl will keep them busy instead."

 

**Frasier, Eddie+Any, Treat**

"Jump, Eddie!" Frasier prompted, a piece of Eddie's favorite treat held out as enticement.

When his father's dog only looked up at him, otherwise unmoving, Frasier turned around and huffed, "That dog is defective, dad."

Martin only smirked, watching as Eddie did a cartwheel behind Frasier's back.

 

**Lilo &Stitch, outside pov, the whole island knows – they just don’t talk about it **

"That.... that is _not_ a dog," screeches Mrs. Nasagawa's teenage grandson, come to the island for the summer, as he jumps away from that weird girl's thing and scrambles to hide behind his much tinier Nana. "And that 'uncle' is not... not... _what was that?!_ "

"Hush, child, they're good people," Nana says, slapping the back of his head, "and that's all that counts."

 

**any, any, sacrifice (Once Upon A Time)**

Snow took that poisoned apple and willingly bit into it; Charming offered his own heart so they could be cursed back to Storybrooke. All well and good, the heroes doing the heroic thing and later being brought back to life - and their happy ending - by the power of true love.

But villains don't get happy endings, and when one manages to do the right thing and sacrifice himself, it's the life of the person he loves most that must be paid for his return.

 

**Sherlock, Sherlock, poison**

John feels his roommate's impatient stare on him and, groaning, opens his eyes and says, "I'm not feeling so good, Sherlock, so whatever it is, you can wait."

Sherlock's eyes brighten. "Oh, good, you're finally showing the symptoms!"


	7. Multifandom - 5 sentences

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Written at [Comment Fic](http://comment-fic.livejournal.com/594428.html).

_Written for Mahmfic at[Comment Fic](http://comment-fic.livejournal.com/594428.html?thread=82972412#t82972412). Prompt: **why don't you get a job?**_ (Enchanted) 

In the months since they'd met Giselle, Morgan had seen her overjoyed and sad, calm and sometimes annoyed - her dad even said Giselle could get _furious_ (which Morgan hadn't believed until her stepmother caught a news special on dog fighting; they now sponsored five rescued pit bulls, by the way). 

But the deep sighs that had been getting louder in the last week didn't fit any of those emotions; and Morgan was too curious not to ask, "Are you... bored?" 

Giselle opened her mouth for an instant denial, but she paused and, after a moment, sighed again before she admitted, "I think... maybe... yes, I _am_." 

Morgan thought over the problem; it was a grown-up problem, but Morgan knew the perfect solution (her dad might come home tired and grouchy - though not so much since Giselle's arrival - but _never_ bored). "You should get a job!" 

\-------- 

_Written for Mycenaes at[Comment Fic](http://comment-fic.livejournal.com/594428.html?thread=83005436#t83005436). Prompt: **greek mythology, helen, I'll be the beauty queen in tears**_

"This is your new home," a golden boy once said, showing his stolen bride into his father's palace. 

"We will be happy here," that grinning boy promised, and his eyes had looked at her in complete adoration. 

Now those eyes are closed forever. 

Now she has been returned to her first husband, and they're busy putting together a life where Troy never existed (and it doesn't exist now, does it?). 

And if Helen sheds a tear, sometimes, she tells herself it's because she is happy to be back home. 

\-------- 

_Written for Yuidirntat[Comment Fic](http://comment-fic.livejournal.com/594428.html?thread=82981628#t82981628). Prompt: **ghost hunting**_ (Buffy the Vampire Slayer, post-Becoming) 

"Shouldn't we wait for Buffy to do this?" 

"She's not coming back!" Cordelia snapped at her boyfriend, annoyed at his blind faith in the girl who'd left them with a dead body in the library and a whole town of vampires and other uglies to deal with; then she turned on Willow, the instigator of this little nighttime get-together, and tried to get the girl back to her senses, "but we totally should wait for Giles before we hunt down a ghost." 

"We're not hunting it; we're giving it peace," Willow said, hugging the book she'd borrowed from Giles (without his knowledge, sure; but what he didn't know couldn't drive him to a heart attack) and crossing the threshold of Sunnydale's most famous haunted house. 

Cordelia eyed the dead yard they were crossing and, trying not to shudder at the clanging that came from the empty house, she muttered, "How do we know it even wants 'peace'?" 

Willow set her jaw and said, "What else could it want?" 


	8. Multifandom - 23 words

**Buffy the Vampire Slayer** (Giles + Willow/Xander, S3) Prompt: _[silence in the library](http://comment-fic.livejournal.com/599145.html?thread=83538025#t83538025)_

Giles focused on his work, trying to ignore that Willow and Xander had greeted him a few minutes ago. The only clues of their presence were the backpacks abandoned on the table, and the silence from the stacks in the back.

He didn't want to know.

 

**Buffy the Vampire Slayer** (Buffy/Faith) Prompt: _[smoke](http://comment-fic.livejournal.com/599145.html?thread=83552617#t83552617)_

"You're _not_ dying like this!" Faith heard a familiar voice, and then the demon's heavy dead body was hauled off of her.

But Buffy had led the younger Slayers out of the building as soon as the fire started...

"Didn't know you cared this much, B," she gasped even as she forced herself to her feet.

Even through the smoke, Faith caught the exasperated look.

"You're a fool, then!"

 

**Buffy the Vampire Slayer** (Buffy) Prompt: _[They say it's your birthday](http://comment-fic.livejournal.com/599145.html?thread=83553385#t83553385)_

"I should know better," Buffy says, wincing at her bruises. "Next year, I'll punch the first person who wishes me a 'happy birthday'."

 

**FUllmetal Alchemist** (Maes  & Ed) Prompt: _[Who gave Ed 'The Talk'?](http://comment-fic.livejournal.com/599145.html?thread=83500137#t83500137)_

"This is an important conversation, Ed. I'm sorry it had to be like this..."

"Mmph!"

"For the record, the gag was Al's idea."

 

**Once Upon A Time** (Belle) Prompt: _[stargazing](http://comment-fic.livejournal.com/599145.html?thread=83534697#t83534697)_

At home, Belle had never been allowed to be alone, in the dark, in the highest tower.

Being Rumpelstiltskin's maid has some advantages.

 

**Once Upon A Time** (Regina, first day of the curse) Prompt: _[on top of the world](http://comment-fic.livejournal.com/599145.html?thread=83538537#t83538537)_

Her enemies - and they _all_ were her enemies - were helpless under her heel and gratifyingly ignorant of the fact. Regina couldn't be happier.

 

**Once Upon A Time** (Belle &Rumpelstiltskin) Prompt: _[Loneliness is a cloak you wear, a shade of blue that’s always there](http://comment-fic.livejournal.com/599145.html?thread=83546473#t83546473)_

Belle learns to recognize the walls her master has built around himself, having bumped into them repeatedly. It's easy to believe they're part of the real person, as he carries them as casually as he does his leathers or his cloak.

There is a door somewhere, she is sure, though her only proof is some rare smile or a reluctant kindness.

But she despairs of ever finding the key.

 

**Once Upon A Time** (Belle) Prompt: _[Life itself is an exile. The way home is not the way back.](http://comment-fic.livejournal.com/599145.html?thread=83570793#t83570793)_

When the Dark Castle finally fades from view (not that she keeps looking back, of course she doesn't), Belle considers heading back home. Back to her father, to those who love her (and don't deny it). But she wanted adventure, a life beyond the walls of a castle...

This may be her only chance, she knows.

If it also means exile (temporary, she promises herself), then so be it.

 

**SUperman TAS** (Clark/Lex) Prompt: _[clue](http://comment-fic.livejournal.com/599145.html?thread=83498601#t83498601)_

"I can't believe anyone could be so clueless! You're so _obvious_!"

Clark gave his boyfriend an amused look.

Lex glared back. "Shut up."


	9. Multifandom - 1 sentence

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Written at [Comment Fic](http://comment-fic.livejournal.com/611986.html).

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry in advance about the punctuation abuse!

**Angel the Series.** Doyle. _No time for goodbyes_

Doyle makes his choice, kisses the girl, and jumps.

 

**Buffy the Vampire Slayer.** Angelus. _running away._

Angelus watches them flee and scream with a gleeful smirk on his face; the faster they run away, the hungrier he gets.

 

**Buffy the Vampire Slayer.** Buffy (/Angel). _love_

Whoever said loving someone is worth the pain of losing them, is welcome to take her place as she watches Angel disappear from her life.

 

**Buffyverse.** Buffy/Angel (Boston Dawning AU). _innocent bystander_

Angel nudged her softly, but Buffy had already spotted the situation; after a second of consideration, she motioned at him to go distract the girls making eyes at the hungry vamp (and she knew from experience what a great distraction her boyfriend could be, so she didn't worry about innocent bystanders), while she went to introduce Casanova to her sharp new stake.

 

**Buffyverse** Cordelia  & DOyle (Courting Sin AU). _it can only be solved with a game of rock-paper-scissors_

They needed the Slayer, but the Slayer was currently distracted by a handsome - albeit evil - vampire in their hotel suite and, as precious minutes ticked by and neither Cordelia nor Doyle wanted to be the one to knock on their door, Cordelia held out her hand in front of her and said, "There's only one way to do this."

 

**Buffy the Vampire Slayer.** Faith. _Now it's my turn to shine!_

One girl in each generation, her Watcher had said; this is supposed to be her turn, her time in the limelight; this is where she's supposed to shine and save the world... and Buffy is _ruining_ it.

 

**Buffy the Vampire Slayer.** Warren. _bullet took a bad hop_

Before the skin is torn off his body, and screams are all he has left, Warren has a second to wonder whether he should laugh that he's being punished for the death he never meant to happen.

 

**Chuck.** Chuck. _a spy's world._

A spy's world is a labyrinth of conspiracies and betrayals, but if you're lucky - and let's admit it, Chuck is one of the lucky ones - there will be people willing to guide you through the maze.

 

**Dresden Files**. Karin Murphy  & Mouse. _fetch_.

"You might look nicer," Karin grumbles as she goes pick up the ball Mouse stopped being interested in as soon as it hit the ground, "but you're just as much a pain in the ass as your owner."

 

**Firefly.** Inara (/Mal). _The writing's on the wall / It feels like forever since we had a good day_

Denial won't erase the writing on the wall, Inara knows; it's been weeks since she and Mal met without awkward glances and stilted conversation, those good days where they had something like friendship (and maybe, perhaps, could have shared something else) are now long gone and, really, all that's left is to stop pretending they can fix this and leave Serenity behind.

 

**Fullmetal Alchemist.** Edward Elric. _hatred._

Edward doesn't understand that he never _really_ hated Hohenheim until it's too late.

 

**Fullmetal Alchemist**. Winry. _loss_

After Trisha dies, Winry never ever tells her friends how much she _envies_ them for having so many memories of their mother.

 

**Gone With The Wind.** Rhett  & Scarlett. _Rome is burning._

Scarlett doesn't understand the reference, of course, but at least it snaps her from the stupor of the last day and her fright of the flames all around them - "Really, Rhett, who cares about playing the fiddle right now!"

 

**How To Train Your Dragon.** Hiccup  & Toothless. _"No! Bad dragon!"_

The more Hiccup tries to bop his dragon with an empty basket - which was near to the brim with fish just some minutes ago - the more Toothless seems to think it's a strange, but fun new game.

 

**How To Train Your Dragon.** Astrid/Hiccup. _have you ever heard the earth breathe?_

Astrid doesn't always get Hiccup, especially when he brings her to a secluded spot of an island only they and their dragons are aware of and, once they are lying on the grass and he's so close she might ask him for a kiss (or yank him closer for one, that works just fine too), he leans even closer and (still _not_ kissing her) whispers to stay quiet and listen to the earth breathe - and, the craziest thing is, when he's smiling like that, she might hear something, after all.

 

**InuYasha.** Inuyasha/Kagome. _be there._

Kagome isn't used to sleeping in the open, with a thousand noises, chirps and cries she's never heard before; but she still closes her eyes and reminds herself that Inuyasha is nearby and he'll keep her safe.

 

**MCU**. Bruce ( & Tony). _"You are making me very angry"_

Bruce stops when he catches sight of Tony further down the hall, considers the other man's eager grin and, before there are waves and social obligations (and new, admittedly groundbreaking experimentation during which Tony can't help himself _from baiting the Hulk_ ), Bruce turns on his heel and enters the first empty room he finds - and locks the door behind him, just in case.

 

**Once Upon A Time.** Belle. _sometimes you just need to cry_

The first night, Belle is too nervous to do more than pass out on the bit of straw that passes as bedding in her cell; but the nights after that, once she's gone through whole days in this scary, dark place with such a strange master and not one word of kindness, then it sinks in that she'll never feel her father's arms comfort her, or have anyone smile at her warmly, or... _or anything nice_... and it's give in to sadness or anger, and a good cry somehow manages both.

 

**Once Upon A Time.** Belle. _chair_

When he is gone - and she's learning to tell when Rumpelstiltskin is really gone and not just lurking around this big castle, ready to catch her at a misdeed or startle her into a fright (and sometimes both at once) ...anyway, _when he is gone_ , Belle likes to curl up in her favorite chair and read all the books she pretends she's too innocent to have noticed in his library.

 

**Once Upon A Time.** Belle (/Rumpelstiltskin). _help_

If he had asked for help - _really_ asked, _honestly_ asked - then she would have... she would have known that he trusted her, at least!

 

**Once Upon A Time.** Emma. _cuddling._

Emma knows she's too old to be embarrassed by the sight of her parents cuddling together on a lazy Sunday morning, but this is all new, so it's okay ( _weird_ , but okay).

 

**Once Upon A Time.** Emma. _sinking_

At Neal's burial, she decides that Storybrooke has no happy endings in store for her (and that's for the best, really, they're such a hassle!), but enter a stubborn pirate who knows to keep her on her toes, and Emma has the sinking feeling she might be willing to try once more.

 

**Once Upon A Time.** Emma. _socks_

Emma looks in disbelief at the bright red sock tied around the doorknob of Mary Margaret's door (David's sock, presumably) and takes a long step back before giving into a full-body shudder and coming to a final decision: she so needs to find her own place away from her parents!

 

**Once Upon A Time.** Henry. _flying._

Henry still has nightmares about Neverland - the wild boys, the loneliness, _the heart in his hand_ \- but every time he wakes up gasping, he reminds himself he'd never have jumped off a cliff and laughed giddily as he took flight if he hadn't been taken there.

 

**Once Upon A Time.** Henry. _keeping the peace._

His mom is the Evil Queen and his other mom is Snow White's daughter, and for a long time he was the only reason they kept the peace between them.

 

**Once Upon A Time.** Neal. _waves_

Being back aboard the Jolly Roger is unexpected enough, but that he is with the two people he never expected to see again - plus one he never knew existed ( _and oh gods, he has a son!_ ) - and he's taking them to a new land of magic... it should be enough to make him jump into the water and let the waves take him back to New York and sanity, but he grips onto the helm as tightly as he can, and shoves his fears as far away as they'll go. 

 

**Once Upon A Time.** Neal. _And we become / Silhouettes when our bodies finally go_

He's become a shadow in his father's mind, a flicker of life exchanged for his father's sanity (he's always walked blindly into bad deals, his Papa, when he thought he could keep Baelfire safe), and this could be the end of their story, both trapped and helpless, but Neal sees an opening, a last chance, and he doesn't regret shoving aside his father's will (so easy, to overpower Rumpelstiltskin when he loves the one doing it) and sending that memory potion into Emma's hands.

 

**Once Upon A Time.** Regina. _despair._

Jefferson and that useless friend of his leave her alone with Daniel, to wallow in her despair, and as Regina returns her love's dead body to his resting place, she swears that if she can't be happy, then she might be as well be so powerful that no one will dare hurt her again.

 

**Once Upon A Time.** Regina. _I’m sorry, I meant to do it_

After ten years, Regina has exhausted all the ways to break the monotone of life in Storybrooke; before another decade passes, she must do something drastic before she actually starts feeling sorry for casting the curse.

 

**Once Upon A Time.** Rumpelstiltskin. _helpless_

He doesn't care how many people he'll have to step on - or, later, how many worlds he'll have to burn through - but he will _never_ be that helpless man again.

 

**Once Upon A Time.** Rumpelstiltskin. _schemes_

Scheme upon scheme, deal after deal, he lays down the road to the Land Without Magic and his boy.

 

**Once Upon A Time.** Rumpelstiltskin. _guilty_.

Rumpelstiltskin once blamed himself for letting his True Love go (and he still does, because even if she wasn't dead, she was still rotting in Regina's cell), but now his conscience screams at him ( _screams_ , when it doesn't bother to do more than whisper and fade about anything else) because he is letting her stay.

 

**Once Upon A Time.** Rumpelstiltskin. _accidentally on purpose_.

He has always known that a child of True Love would come into Regina's little kingdom and break the curse, but he never quite knew _how_ until he discovered he'd helped things along by bringing little Henry to Regina's attention (and what a good laugh he had with that!); but then Henry's full origins come into light, and between the disbelief, the joy, and the heart-stopping dread, Rumpelstiltskin has the certainty that (just like always, really) the joke is on him after all.

 

**Once Upon A Time.** Rumpelstiltskin ( & Belle). _sweet._

She is doing it again, smiling at him with that sweet expression, and Rumpelstiltskin still has no idea how to respond to it.

 

**Once Upon A Time.** Rumpelstiltskin. _true love._

It's a trick - a trap! - and he can't believe he almost fell for her lies, but there's one truth and one little girl with whatever help she's got from the Queen won't change it: there's no True Love for the likes of him!

 

**Once Upon A Time.** Rumpelstiltskin (/Belle). _But I'll never be anything you ever want me to be_

Rumpelstiltskin wants to tell Belle to give up, that he will never be the man she sees in him, that he still has no idea how she can see that man at all... but he swallows down the words, hides from the truth as adroitly as he's ever done, and as long as she believes, he'll pretend she's right.

 

**Superman TAS.** Clark/Lex. _coffee_

If this amazing, perfect blend is a bribe to put a nicer spin on the latest LuthorCorp scandal, it's useless... but it's still so sweet that Lex remembers exactly how he likes his coffee.

 

**The Big Bang Theory.** Penny  & Sheldon. _very ambiguous vs. greatly specific_

"Oh no, you're not doing one of your social experiments on me, pal," Penny told Sheldon, glaring at her boyfriend's flatmate, "no 'whatever you think is best, Penny', and definitely no 'I'm fine with anything, Penny'; you're telling me how many pieces of pork you want in your _lo mein_ , or help me God, I'll make you eat this-" and she shoved the take out menu back to him "- right now!"


	10. Multifandom - 10 words

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Written at [Comment Fic](http://comment-fic.livejournal.com/612179.html).

**Angel the Series** Angel  & Faith. _save me._

He lets Faith crash against him. He recognizes a cry for help even when it's hidden beneath violence and anger.

 

**Angel the Series** Lilah. _end(less)._

Death should have meant an end to regrets.

It's not.

 

**Buffy the Vampire Slayer.** Angel. _consequences_

Angel knew that falling in love with a Slayer wouldn't work, but Buffy wanted to _try_ and he slowly let himself be convinced that it couldn't be that bad, anyway.

 

**Buffy the Vampire Slayer.** Buffy. _Argentina_.

Buffy doesn't need Spanish to kill the right monster, but she still grumbles that her high school teacher never mentioned that his verb conjugations wer completely useless in Buenos Aires!

 

**Buffy the Vampire Slayer.** Buffy/Angel. _beginning_.

A girl and a vampire walk into a dark alley...

 

**Buffy the Vampire Slayer.** Buffy  & Angel (Boston Dawning AU). _hidden weaponry_.

Buffy studied the mechanism under his sleeves, nodding in approval as she considered the force the hidden stake would be released with. "And you say Wesley - seriously, _Wesley_ \- came up with this?"

Angel nodded.

Buffy shook her head in disbelief. "Couldn't he have smarted up while he was my Watcher?"

 

**Buffy the Vampire Slayer.** Buffy/Angelus (Courting Sin AU). _I'mma make a deal with the bad wolf so the bad wolf don't bite no more_.

They see the Scourge of Europe covering a girl's back, and they assume he's been tamed. They see the Slayer going home to the arms of a soulless vampire, and they whisper she's broken.

"Fools," Buffy says, and Angelus nods.

Because nobody knows about the inside fights, the grudging compromises, the pile of deals under the table. Their balance act.

 

**Buffy the Vampire Slayer** Buffy  & Willow. _my enemy is a friend of mine_.

This is her best friend. They should be grieving for poor Tara together. Instead they're facing off, battle lines drawn.

 

**Buffy the Vampire Slayer** Buffy  & Willow & Xander. _the calm after the storm_.

A few miles away from the crater that had been their home, they start arguing where to stop for lunch.

 

**Buffy the Vampire Slayer** Fanged Four. _civil war_.

Any part of the world becomes beautiful in war, they think. When no one wonders why their neighbor disappears at night and their bloody corpse is found the next morning. 

In the darkness, they walk; under the fire, laughing as the humans kill each other and make their hunt so much easier...

They don't care why these fools are fighting, just that their blood tastes as rich on either side.

 

**Buffy the Vampire Slayer.** Giles. _going with the low-tech solution_

While Willow tames that impossible contraption into coughing up some relevant information, Giles' tomes always give him the necessary answer.

 

**Buffy the Vampire Slayer.** Giles  & Willow. _"That should be illegal."_

Giles arched an eyebrow at the information that scrolled on the screen. "The public shouldn't have access to this."

"Yeah, well...." Willow squirmed on her seat. "We kind of don't."

 

**Buffy the Vampire Slayer.** Joyce. _this is how it ends_

Another headache. Better to lie down and rest her eyes.

 

**Fullmetal Alchemist.** Edward. _safe_

"Hey, hey. Calm down, boy." 

Granny's voice cuts through the pain and the fire. The world is spinning, but her voice remains firm. The last thing he remembers is laying the circle in their basement and then... and then...

"Shhh. Your brother is here, Ed. Hush now."

Yes, yes, he got Al back. Everything went wrong, and everything is pain now.

But Granny is here, so they must be safe.

 

**Fullmetal Alchemist.** Edward. _pudding_

Ed eyes the dessert on their table warily. It looks delicious, just like the one the week before, and the week before that; but he knows the truth behind Winry's baking spree. "You'll _never_ convince me milk's good for me," he says stubbornly, reaching for his plate.

Winry just grins.

 

**Fullmetal Alchemist.** Edward/Winry. _their daemons_

"If you hadn't pushed him," Karl wonders, "do you think he'd have said anything?"

Telsa never speaks about Edward's failings. But this is _Winry's daemon_ , and he knows most of them already. "Maybe.... Probably...." She sighs and admits, "In a few years?"

They watch the two teens holding hands at the train station, not eager to be separated after such a brief reunion.

"Good thing they have us."

Telsa agrees.

 

**Fullmetal Alchemist** Edward  & Alphonse & Winry. _mud_.

Muddy shoes, scratched knees, laughter. A happy childhood in Resembool.

 

**Fullmetal Alchemist** Hohenheim/Trisha. _always_.

"Think of me sometimes?" Trisha asks, smiling bravely.

Hohenheim nods, then pulls her into a last kiss. "Always," he promises.

 

**Gone With The Wind.** Rhett  & Scarlett. _what makes you feel good_.

Her green eyes fix greedily on the largest package he carries, and her dimples make their expected appearance. "For me?"

Rhett considers teasing her, but doesn't. This is a girl trapped by a foolish war, and when he's feeling selfless, he likes nothing more than to make her feel good.

 

**Gone With The Wind.** Scarlett. _Life goes on._

Ashley is useless, Mellie is dead, and Rhett... Rhett is gone, too.

But Scarlett stands straight. Tomorrow is another day.

 

**Harry Potter.** Hermione. _mistake._

She shouldn't have brought three of her favorite history books during their two-week holiday trip. Clearly, they won't be enough.

 

**Harry Potter.** Harry. _freedom._

A fast broom and open skies - Harry forgets everything else.

 

**Harry Potter.** Harry. _prophecy._

He never had the chance to read the classics, but they're apparently relevant to their History of Magic assignment. Now Harry wonders how Voldemort could miss learning about self-fulfilled prophecies.

 

**House M.D.** House  & Wilson. _just a game_.

Wilson frowned at his best friend. "You must stop treating your cases as a puzzle to play with. A patient's life is not a game!"

"Of course not," House sniffed, sounding affronted. "Or do I look like I'm having fun?"

 

**How To Train Your Dragon.** Toothless. _dragon_

He doesn't trust the human, but it smells like fresh fish rather than metal and it's not trying to hurt him while he's stuck in this valley.

A truce, then.

 

**MCU.** Steve/Bucky. _it was always you._

"Even back then?"

"Yes. I always knew it'd be you."

 

**MCU.** Steve/Bucky. _I’d kill for you, baby_

Steve spares a glance for the assassin's corpse, and forgets it when he sees the man with blood still covering his hands. "Thank you," he says.

And he means it.

 

**MCU.** TOny/Pepper. _scratches_

She won't be just the next scratch on his bedpost.

 

**Once Upon A Time.** Belle (New Deal AU). _yes_. 

He isn't at his home, and now that she's unlocked the shop to find everything in the dark, Belle fears she has missed him again. But the familiar creaking of a spinning wheel reaches her ears, and she follows the sound into the back room.

He hasn't asked her to stay; he never has. But her answer remains the same.

 

**Once Upon A Time.** Belle. _chill_. 

After the pillow, a thick blanket makes its way to her dungeon, followed by the comfiest mattress and a collection of candles (which are replaced by a raring fire a few nights later).

Rumpelstiltskin snaps that he won't have the help catching a chill.

She smiles and thanks him anyway. 

 

**Once Upon A Time.** Belle. _secret ambitions_. 

Belle reads about magical adventures and daring heroes, but deep down she wants to _be_ a story worth writing about.

 

**Once Upon A Time.** Belle. _having a good day_. 

The laundry was drying, dinner was cooking, and the castle was clean from dungeons to highest tower - the latter managed with a great helping of magic, she suspected. Rumpelstiltskin never offered her a day off, but occasionally she'd find herself with time in her hands and no duties ahead.

With a smile, she took a book into the great room, settled close to the spinning wheel, and read out loud.

 

**Once Upon A Time.** Belle. _a terrifying accident_. 

In her shock, the delicate cup slips through her fingers.

 

**Once Upon A Time.** Charming/Snow. _two become one_

Snow's heart beats in two bodies, but it's not divided.

 

**Once Upon A Time.** Emma. _peace._

After these years, Emma has concluded that the Enchanted Forest might be rich in true love and happy endings, but peace and quiet never last long enough to her liking.

 

**Once Upon A Time.** Emma  & Henry (Fake Memories past). _cutie-pie._

The woman simultaneously glares Emma down for not being Henry's older sister and tickles the baby's chin, cooing what a sweet cutie-pie he is. When she shrieks, baby teeth firmly embedded into her thumb, Emma smiles. "He's such a mama's boy," she says.

And laughs at the woman's offended face.

 

**Once Upon A Time.** Hook. _sea_

For three centuries, his only true love is the sea.

 

**Once Upon A Time.** Hook/Milah. _I wish I had gotten to know her, before I fell in love_

He'd never met a woman as hungry for the sea (for _the unknown_ , he understood later, for _whatever_ lay beyond her village). Milah had listened to his tales with satisfying curiosity, and jumped in tipsy enthusiasm at his proposal.

He'd never met a woman who'd leave everything behind for him.

Turns out she was running toward a different life... But it was the life he led, so it worked out.

 

**Once Upon A Time.** Neal. _returning to a place you never thought you'd see again_

Three hundred years may have passed, but the Enchanted Forest remains exactly the same. In another lifetime, a boy named Baelfire had called this 'home'; but now Neal Cassidy will fight to leave this place and return to his family.

 

**Once Upon A Time.** Regina. _Nameless bodies in unremembered rooms_

Each of these hearts belonged to a person, once. Now they gather dust in Regina's vault, their names forever forgotten.

 

**Once Upon A Time.** Rumpelstiltskin. _hero_

He went on a quest and died to save the ones he loved, but that didn't make him a hero.

 

**Once Upon A Time.** Rumpelstiltskin. _fear_

He has a path to follow, and dozens of people to carefully nudge in the same direction. His worst fear is failure, that a single distraction might unravel his careful plans.

That's why he lets Belle go, that first time.

Every time after that, even he knows there's no excuse.

 

**Once Upon A Time.** Rumpelstiltskin. _no-win scenario_

She says yes - he'll be starting a marriage with a lie.

She says no - he won't have her at all.

 

**Once Upon A Time.** Rumpelstiltskin. _Didn't want to be a slave / Just turned out that way_

The Dark One's dagger had been supposed to give a weak man control over a great power, not _make_ him into one. But that man is long gone - and not worth a return, Rumpelstiltskin remembers that much. Now he'd do anything to keep his magic and remain as he is now.

Almost anything, it turns out. 

(Too late, of course.)

 

**Once Upon A Time.** Sydney. _mirror mirror on the wall_.

From the mirror he sees everything, but can touch nothing.

 

**Superman TAS** Clark/Lex. _jade_

They could have stayed forever at odds, both bitter and jaded. Neither likes to think how lonely that would've been.

 

**The Big Bang Theory.** Penny. _asteroid_.

When she pencils in the next meteor shower, fully intending to watch it with Leonard, Penny knows she's in trouble.


	11. FMA - Edward

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Written for ELD at [Comment Fic](http://comment-fic.livejournal.com/654529.html?thread=88054977#t88054977). Prompt: **First diaper change**

Six months ago a great upheaval had arrived in their home, turning their comfortable routines into past history and giving him and Winry more sleepless nights than the Fuhrer and Father combined. 

But it was cute, so they'd kept it - and Winry had bopped him hard when he'd said as much! - and eventually they'd settled into new routines. His favorite was that, as long as he handled the late-night feedings, Winry tackled all dirty diapers.

Until news came from Rush Valley about an alloy that was both lighter and stronger than any metal yet.

Winry had been practically bouncing in her eagerness to catch the next train - and then she'd remembered she wasn't as free to leave as she'd been before.

"Go," he'd told her when she'd hesitated. And before she could propose that they went together, as he had no wish to be ogled again by the automail-mad community there, he'd added, "I can take care of everything."

Winry had hugged him tight, then rushed off to pack.

Apparently, in his wish to see her happy, Ed had forgotten that 'everything' included the grossest task on Earth.

"That's what love does to you, kid," he told his squirming son now as he tried to ignore the smell. "It fries your brain."

A gurgle answered him.

It was the hardest thirty minutes of his life - and perhaps the most embarrassing if there'd been witnesses, since he'd seen Winry breeze through it in under a minute - but at last it was done.

"Let's _never_ talk about this, okay?"

The baby's smile seemed to agree with him.


	12. Multifandom - 27 words

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Written at [Comment Fic](http://comment-fic.livejournal.com/660285.html).

**Blood+** (Saya/Hagi). Prompt: _pleasure_

Saya hasn't touched an instrument in decades, but Hagi is ever her arm and her will.

She sits at his feet, and, swept away by music, _forgets_.

 

 **Buffy the Vampire Slayer** (Buffy). Prompt: _first kill_

...A man guides a young girl into a cemetery...

Dark, doomed stories start like this.

But none like hers.

A girl walks in - but the Slayer emerges.

 

 **Buffy the Vampire Slayer** (Buffy/Angel). Prompt: _hope(less)_

She killed him. Banished him. Sent him to hell.

She often touches him to make sure he did come back.

It should banish the nightmares.

It doesn't.

 

 **Buffy the Vampire Slayer** (Buffy/Angel. Boston'verse). Prompt: _red roses for the killer_

Nothing says 'thanks for killing half that vampire nest' and 'sorry they crashed our date' like a dozen red roses waiting at her bedside the next morning.

 

 **Buffy the Vampire Slayer** (any Slayer). Prompt: _pain_

Bleeding cuts and bruises. A shattered wrist. The spit out teeth.

She _hurts_.

She thinks of the foolishness of leaving one like her for dead - and _smiles_.

 

 **Buffy the Vampire Slayer** (Jonathan). Prompt: _indifference_

He'd never meant to do harm, but nobody paid attention when he was nice.

Better evil than a nobody, right?

Let them try to ignore him now.

 

 **Highlander** (Methos). Prompt: _Death on a horse_

Later, they named him Death.

But then he rode among his brothers. Victorious. Powerful. Invincible.

_Merciless._

He'd regret it. A regret in thousands.

But that was later.

 

 **Once Upon A Time** (Belle/Rumpelstiltskin). Prompt: _love_

Blue eyes regard him kindly. He snaps at her.

Genuine laughter at his wit, and he eyes her warily.

"I love you," she swears.

He _can't_ believe.

 

 **Once Upon A Time** (Lacey  & Rumpelstiltskin). Prompt: _"I still miss you."_

This wasn't Belle.

It was her face, but never her smile; her voice, but not her kind words.

She walked beside him...

...and Rumpelstiltskin still missed her.

 

 **Once Upon A Time** (Regina). Prompt: _betrayal!_

Daniel is dead.

_No._

Her mother killed him.

_No!_

This couldn't - shouldn't - be happening.

...If that little monster hadn't betrayed her, it wouldn't have happened at all.

 

 **Sailor Moon** (Serenity  & Usagi). Prompt: _In My Time Of Dying_

A thousand years later, a girl will relive this moment (her heart breaking, reaching for Endymion's sword), and though she'll grieve, she won't understand _why_.

Lucky girl.

 

 **Superman TAS** (Clark/Lex). Prompt: _timing_

"You know," Lex snarked, still frazzled, "People wouldn't believe I'm your archnemesis if you didn't always pull me off a bullet's path at the _last. possible. second_."

 

 **Veronica Mars** (Mac/Dick). Prompt: _trouble_

"If my best friend weren't dating your best friend, this-" she waved between them "-would never have happened."

Dick shrugged happily. "We always knew they were trouble."

 

 **Historical RPF** (Achilles/Hephaiston). Prompt: _rebirth_

People whisper their young king is Achilles returned to life, and the man at his right, the other half of a friendship that will be legendary again.


	13. Chapter 13

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Written for ELD at [Comment Fic](http://comment-fic.livejournal.com/450600.html?thread=70815528#t70815528). Prompt: **Fullmetal Alchemist, Any, finding out that Maes Hughes lived, and was working behind the scenes the whole time.**

He didn't look older. Or gaunter. Or even melancholic. Not in the slightest.

Not like any of the versions of him she'd imagined during those moments when she allowed herself to believe they hadn't buried him ten years ago.

(She's the one with the occasional dream. What if...? If only...? Roy won't let himself regret anything.)

"I assume you'll want an explanation." His glasses glint under the overhead light. It’s difficult to look at him in the eye, but Riza forces herself to.

Their mission is over. Even if it should have never been theirs. A clerical mistake. Some newbie putting the wrong name in the wrong form. Or perhaps that’s just the scapegoat version. Perhaps someone wanted to have Amestris’ best sniper and best intelligence agent together again.

And to hell with a decade of moving on.

Never mind that she loathes lying, even as she steels herself into pretending she never saw her lover’s best friend again.

Riza shook her head. “Someone forced you, of course,” she clipped out.

She could imagine it. As badly hurt as the homunculus had left him - and that had to be true; the bastard had taunted them with their friend’s death, after all - it would have been easy to cart him away and alchemize his features into another body. She wondered which alchemist had done the work. None that would have dared bring the news to Roy, that was for sure.

He lifted a shoulder. “Took me by surprise.”

It would have. “Thank you,” she said. Meaning it.

He doesn’t ask what she’s grateful about. He _is_ the best. Reaching out to them would have been a child’s game. They would have gone to his rescue. They would have lost the war, to save a friend. Or they would have lost a bit of themselves, if they’d ignored his cry for help.

Hughes had not given them a choice.

Even if he’d lost everything with that decision.

“It’s okay.” He smiled. “I was there, you know.”

“When?”

His smirk flashed. “When it mattered.”

She smiled back. There might be no way to fix this. There might always be a little girl without a father, a man missing his best friend. But not everything was lost. That mattered, too. “I’m glad.”

And she was.


	14. Firefly. Inara (/Mal)

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Written for Fluffmonkey at [Comment Fic](http://comment-fic.livejournal.com/236840.html?thread=48657960#t48657960). Prompt: **Mal/Inara, For them, it was enough**

Inara sits before the screen and listens to the incoming waves. In the last two days, she's received more messages than in the whole of the two years since she boarded Serenity. 

News of her resignation must have reached the Guild already, along with the gossip of the circumstances surrounding it.

Some of the women are shamelessly curious.

Some are worried, going as far as to offer shelter while she reconsiders her options.

Some are shocked and insulted by Inara's choice.

Between the questions, the entreaties, and the admonishments, they all ask, "Is it true?"

It's understandable. Over the decades. Companions have been known to step down and leave their profession behind in order to settle with a favored client. But not many have done it when they still have decades of success and fame ahead of them. Even less have chosen someone who cannot afford the luxuries a Companion can expect as befitting her station.

None has ever left the protection of the Guild so they're free to wander in the outer worlds.

(Not and lived to tell her tale.)

If they knew that the man who was supposed to have tempted her away from safety wouldn't come ten steps from her bed without snapping at her, all these women would be even more confused by Inara's decision.

 _But you know what you're doing,_ says a voice she'll never hear in person again.

Inara shuts down the screen and pictures the face of a woman who would have understood her.

 _He's not an easy man. But you still care about him._ Nan's memory gives her a rueful smile. _And does he, about you._

"I know," Inara whispers.

That will have to be enough.

 

The End  
19/10/15


	15. Multifandom - 10 words (or 20, 30...)

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Written at [Comment Fic](http://comment-fic.livejournal.com/664360.html)

**any** Prompt: _fallen_

People say there's no fallen woman who hasn't been pushed in by a man's hand.

They're not wrong.

But the truth is that those women are the lucky ones. Because the option is a knife striking them from behind instead.

 

 **any** Prompt: _a new kitten_

"What's _that_?"

"The new kitten."

"That's not a cat!"

The duckling happily nests among the furry bodies, getting the same thorough washing as the others.

"Tell that to their momma."

 

 **Batman** (Batman/Catwoman) Prompt: _meow_

Sharp fingernails against his jawline. "Can you make me purr?"

 

 **Big Bang Theory** (Penny  & Leonard) Prompt: _with a whimper_

A poke at her shoulder. "Come on, Penny. It's convention time!"

"Go away," she grumbled.

"But you promised!"

"I lost a bet," she snapped. But she'd lost fair and square, so she allowed herself one whimper against her pillow and then dragged herself up to play chauffeur for the day.

The First Circle is the most powerful in the Realms, but even they step carefully when Prince Kaelas comes visit.

 

 **Black Jewels**. Prompt: _apex predator_  
  
The First Circle is the most powerful in the Realms, but even they step carefully when Prince Kaelas is visiting.

 

 **Blood+** (Diva's chevaliers) Prompt: _glory_

The four of them live for Diva's pleasure. That moment of glory as their Queen feasts in their blood... _Perfection_.

 

 **Buffyverse** (Buffy/Angel) Prompt: _surprise_

The thrill of having an older guy stashed in her bedroom gave way into a sweet first kiss - and the shock when he jumped away and revealed his true face.

 

 **Buffyverse** (Buffy) Prompt: _powers_

A Slayer's work had a expiration date in death. The end of their path, the eternal rest. Nothing could mess up with that.

Enter Buffy Summers... and the friends who managed what even the Powers that Be hesitated to do.

 

 **Buffyverse** (Buffy) Prompt: _destined_

Buffy believes in prophecies.

(It said she would die as the Master rose.)

She also knows they never tell everything.

 

 **Buffyverse** (Buffy) Prompt: _faded_

The image in her mirror doesn't lie. Her faded looks, her youth long gone. There are lines in her face, gray in her hair.

Proof that she's lived.

Buffy smiles.

 

 **Buffyverse** (Buffy/Angel) Prompt: _dancing_

He will leave tomorrow, but this night is his gift to her. So she holds him close as they sway to the music, and pretends this isn't their last dance.

 

 **Buffyverse** Prompt: _sleep_

They take turns making coffee, the new pot always stronger than the last. They can sleep when the world's safe.

 

 **Buffyverse** (past Slayer) Prompt: _I know an ending when it comes_

The trap closes around her, the trio she chased into the alley becoming a whole nest.

No retreat. No hope for help.

(That's what it means, to be the Chosen One.)

Her stake is her one consolation, a promise she'll bring down as many as she can along with her.

 

 **Buffyverse** (Buffy/Angel) Prompt: _goodbyes_

Duty wins again. _Goodbye, my love,_ she wants to say, and _I'm sorry_.

"Close your eyes," she tells him instead.

 

 **Buffyverse** (Clem) Prompt: _absquatulate_

Among the crowds fleeing the hellmouth, Clem's features go unremarked.

 

 **Buffyverse** (Buffy  & Faith) Prompt: _callypigian_

If any other man had turned his back on them and stormed off in high dudgeon, Buffy and Faith would have laughed themselves silly.

But if Giles thought it was respect that kept them quiet...

"I once saw him in leather pants," Buffy confessed.

Faith glared jealously. "You lucky bitch."

 

 **Buffyverse** (Angel) Prompt: _apology_

The last year is a long string of apologies that he's never voiced. He's sorry about getting too close, sorry about falling in love, sorry about his ignorance of his own curse. Sorry about Angelus, and the pain Buffy can't quite hide when they're together.

But words mean nothing, and only actions will prove how much he cares.

As he leaves Sunnydale, Angel tells himself he's not sorry for it.

 

 **Fairytales** (Evil Queen) Prompt: _poison_

The queen dips the wooden comb into a vat of poison, and it shines silver when it comes back up.

 

 **Fairytales** Prompt: _witches_

People always forget that curses are blessings in disguise. Those whiny brats should thank them on their knees. As if they could have snagged a decent prince without their help!

 

 **Fairytales** Prompt: _what the legends never tell you_

Prince Charming cheated, the Beast never changed. True love is sweet while it lasts, but it never lasts for long.

 

 **Firefly** (Simon  & River) Prompt: _burning bridges_

His sister or his future.

It's no choice at all.

 

 **Highlander** (Methos) Prompt: _live_

The Game is a farce, but when any of his students is challenged, Methos has one word of advice: Live.

 

 **MCU** (Pepper  & Tony) Prompt: _efficient_

Breath mints, a shower and a set of clean clothes. Pepper supervises despite the whining over clingy women and hangovers, then hauls her charge to the board meeting. The world might know that Tony Stark is an incurable party boy, but they'll never find proof while he's under her watch.

 

 **Mythology** (Hephaestus) Prompt: _ichor_

The beautiful and vain Olympians may laugh at him for his coarse figure and lame leg, but they choose to forget the power in his veins at their own peril.

 

 **Mythology** (Medea) Prompt: _revenge_

For her husband's new wife, there is some mercy. Not painless, but swift enough.

But for her beloved, for those promises that are now ashes... No. Death cannot be enough.

 

 **Once Upon A Time** (Rumpelstiltskin) Prompt: _an unfortunate joke_

He worked through centuries to find a path to his son, and lost his boy in less than a month.

 

 **Once Upon A Time** (Rumpelstiltskin) Prompt: _ghosts_

If she had ever really loved him, her ghost would haunt him even behind the defenses of the Dark Castle.

 

 **Once Upon A Time** (Henry) Prompt: _bibliomancy_

When he's bored, Henry closes his eyes and lets his storybook fall open where it will. Whatever fairytale turns up, he goes visit the protagonists for their version of events.

 

 **Once Upon A Time** (Belle/Rumpelstiltskin) Prompt: _spellbound_

People whisper about the spellbound girl the Dark One keeps hidden in his castle.

Little do they know that it is she who works some strange magic on her master.

 

 **Once Upon A Time** (Regina) Prompt: _salted earth_

The black diamond is a last resource, a clause born in the bitter knowledge that villains never win.

But if Regina must lose, the heroes will reign only over ruins.

 

 **Once Upon A Time** (Rumpelstiltskin. 3A finale) Prompt: _never a hero_

He's not what they need, but he's all they have.

 

 **Once Upon A Time** (Regina/Robin) Prompt: _theft_

People wondered how a hero fell in love with the Evil Queen.

But Hood had once wandered off with his stolen wand and never returned to check on the maid who'd rescued him.

He and Regina were a perfect match.

 

 **Once Upon A Time** (Rumpelstiltskin) Prompt: _(d)evolution_

He's the spinner no more. Humiliation and pain are now gone.

Rumpelstiltskin steeps himself in the power, basking in this new man he's become, and lets the magic change him.

 

 **Pretender** (Jarod  & Parker) Prompt: _waltz_

They've always danced together. Where one advances, the other must retreat; and where one leads, the other follows. Entwined together, always holding onto each other, and yet with a careful step of distance between them.

Their story in a song.

 

 **Superman** (Clark/Lex) Prompt: _bite_

The internet buzzes with pictures of the chain of fresh love-bites decorating Lex Luthor's neck. Everyone knows the boyfriend is too tame for that kind of damage, so the question of the hour now is: who is Kent's mystery replacement?

 

 **Superman** (Clark/Lex) Prompt: _idolatry_

Everyone else might worship Superman - fools! - but Lex Luthor is the one allowed to take care of Clark Kent when the legend needs a respite from the world's blind adoration.

 

 **Xena: Warrior Princess** Prompt: _men v. gods_

And yet, the bard says, the Warrior Princess always won.


	16. 25 words

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Written at [Comment Fic](http://comment-fic.livejournal.com/671656.html?page=3#comments).

**Black Jewels** (Jaenelle). Prompt: _I’m never going home to you because wherever you are could never be home._

"Let's go home, child," Alexandra says impatiently, and Leland's eyes plead that she be a good girl.

It won't be home, but Jaenelle obeys anyway.

 

 **Buffyverse** (Oz/Willow). Prompt: _soft kiss_

"What's that for?" Willow asks, because she knows what this soft kiss _isn't_. They're not those teenagers anymore.

Oz smiles. "What it could have been."

 

 **Buffyverse** (Spike/Wesley). Prompt: _love_

"I don't love you," Wesley says upfront.

Because love hurts and dies, and this doesn't.

"Good." Spike hauls him closer. "Last thing I need now."

 

 **FullMetal Alchemist** (Edward/Winry + Alphonse). Prompt: _celebration_

The sound of laughter fills the living room, but it takes him a moment to find the source. His wife and his brother are laid out on the carpet, giggling at nothing.

Ed shrugs and snags one of the nearby bottles, lowering himself between them. "Are we celebrating something tonight?"

 

 **Greek Mythology** (Clytemnestra). Prompt: _and hell is full of faithless hearts/let mine not be counted among them_

Betrayal is bringing a whore under their roof. Betrayal is wrenching her child from her arms.

Sending her husband to hell isn't betrayal. It's _justice_.

 

 **MCU** (Bucky Barnes). Prompt: _all worn out and nothing fits_

He knows he used to be someone, someone real, but the few memories that make it to the surface don't fit whatever he's become now.

 

 **MCU** (Steve  & Winter Soldier). Prompt: _I believe that tomorrow is stronger than yesterday_

"I don't remember you."

"Well, last month you tried to kill me." The blond man shrugs, then smirks. "At this rate, tomorrow you'll like me."

 

 **Once Upon A Time** (Rumpelstiltskin). Prompt: _there are heroes and villains on every side – and sometimes the same person is both_

The ogres are gone, but their princess has vanished as well.

Magic has saved Avonlea, but they still curse it for demanding such a price.

 

 **Superman TAS** (Clark/Lex). Prompt: _gold_

"They say your good opinion cannot be bought with gold," Lex says, approaching the wide-eyed reporter, "but can I try with a dinner date instead?"

 

 **Superman TAS** (Clark/Lex). Prompt: _forever_

"We can't hide forever," Clark whispers.

Too honest, his lover.

"True." When Clark frowns, probably picturing their break-up, Lex adds, "But we don't need to."

 

 **Veronica Mars** (Dick/Veronica). Prompt: _sorta cute_

Duncan Kane has all the luck with the ladies, and still he sticks with the Sheriff's daughter. Dick shakes his head at that, what does he see in Ronnie, anyway? Sweet kid, sure, and sorta cute, and that big smile of hers... Okay. Dick might see the attraction after all.

 

 **X-Files** (Dana Scully). Prompt: _(No) Date Night_

Her options are a long hot bath with her favorite novel, or another night helping Mulder with paperwork.

Scully sighs, and takes the book along.


	17. Multifandom - 5 sentences

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Written at [Comment Fic](http://comment-fic.livejournal.com/671062.html).

**Black Jewels** (Daemon  & Lucivar). Prompt: _let's be bad._

"They've grown too careless," the sensuous voice croons from behind Lucivar, "to let us both attend the same party."

There's only one person in the realm who would approach a Eyrien Warlord Prince on the verge of the killing edge with such ease, when even the bitch who owns him has taken care to avoid him tonight. "Bastard," Lucivar greets his brother, and makes sure not to tense when Daemon's hand runs along the edge of a wing and up his back, caressing the bare skin along his shoulder until the tip of those sharp black fingernails rest against his jugular.

The concealed violence is a song in the Darkness, an invitation to dance with the Sadist while this pitiful court burns around them. Lucivar finds himself nodding even before Daemon says the words, holds his brother's gaze and speaks, "Yes, let's."

 

 **Black Jewels** (Daemon  & Ladvarian). Prompt: _sausages!_

There was no better spot in the world than cuddled up to Jaenelle, her hands buried in his fur while she snored softly above him. When they'd been younger, they had often spent the whole night like this, with Ladvarian ready to wake up when she started tossing in her sleep, licking her cheeks and her nose to awaken her when she started making distressed noises, or just to snuggle harder against her when an unknown name escaped her lips instead in a hopeful sigh.

The name had become a man: Daemon, now the Lady's mate and husband, and Daemon didn't appreciate other males sharing his bed with Jaenelle. (Unless that male was Kaelas, but who would dare tell a five-hundred pound Arcerian cat where to sleep?)

*Time's up, Ladvarian,* came Daemon's voice on a private thread, careful not to disturb the Lady's rest, and along with it, a rich salty aroma reached Ladvarian's senses.

Cuddling with Jaenelle _was_ better than even a plateful of Mrs. Beale's prized sausages, but now neither he nor Daemon had to ask their Queen whose company she preferred. 

It was better this way.

 

 **Buffyverse** (Buffy  & Willow & Xander). Prompt: _Nothing can be altered, there is nothing to decide, no escape, no change of heart, nor any place to hide_

"This is our last stand," Buffy says, feeling safe enough in this room to unbend a little and allow the worry she's kept from the others to creep into her voice. At last, she is alone with Willow and Xander, her closest allies and best friends - in that order, tonight, because she needs the magic and the strategy first, just like they need her strength; they can show each other how much they care afterwards.

Xander nods, and explains his plans for the coming battle, how he wants to place the girls and the other fighters, matching their strengths to the enemy's known weaknesses.

Buffy adds her own ideas, and among their discussion, they almost don't hear Willow's hesitant voice - "Couldn't we...?" With that, she stops herself, but the other two pause. They understand, they really do. They know that Willow wants to wait, that after showing such affinity with darkness all those years ago, she is still uncomfortable with the idea of using her power to destroy.

But this evil needs to be destroyed.

Buffy shakes her head, and gently says, "We tried, Will, but this outcome would not be altered; there's no more choice except to fight or surrender, and we won't surrender."

"We can't even leave," Xander adds, pulling his oldest friend into a one-armed hug, "because we'd just be dragging it along with us, and it has to stop. We _will_ stop it."

Willow takes a deep breath, and reaches out to take Buffy's hand, holding it tight. Without needing direction, Xander places a hand on Buffy's shoulder and the circle is complete.

Together, they can do anything.

 

 **Firefly** (Operative). Prompt: _built a cathedral but we never prayed_

There's blood in his hands, both from the guilty and the innocent, the old and the young, and he carries the memories of hundreds of eyes looking up at him in confusion before they were darkened forever. Death is his work, the mark of his efficiency, and though his work is one of greatness, he is aware that he's not a great man. 

He's not even a _good_ man.

Good men don't change the world (they can't) so it's up to the likes of him to build a permanent home for the kind and patient, for those whose heart is true and their words sincere and their actions pure.

He doesn't belong there ( _he can't_ ), but he still dreams of it.

 

 **Gilmore Girls** (Rory Gilmore). Prompt: _Christmas lights_

It had been a long trip to Stars Hollow, but Rory hadn't doubted to make it halfway across the country in order to spend the holiday with her loved ones (and the neighbors she would undoubtedly see again during her visit), but it only took one look at her childhood home to forget all about her old bedroom and afternoon naps, and instead have her speeding to Luke's diner.

"Is mom sick?" she asked as soon as she'd managed to corner Luke in the storeroom. Not an easy man to corner, Luke Danes, but he did have a weakness for Gilmore girls, and most importantly, he knew when resistance would only fuel their craziness further.

It helped that he was honestly surprised by the question - and that his body language showed it.

"Okay, that's a no," Rory said before he'd even drawn breath to speak, "then what did Grandma do, or did you guys break up again, why does my house look like a Christmas wonderland for _Thanksgiving dinner_?"

 

 **House M.D.** (House). Prompt: _the answer is_ yes _. is that what you want to hear?_

The man on the bed rouses himself enough to look House in the eye, his own eyes exhausted and fever-bright on his pale face, and asks in the most pitiful voice, "I'm gonna die, aren't I?"

House lets out an impatient sigh; he just despises the unnecessary drama. "Well, d'uh," he says bitingly, ignoring Cameron's little gasp from behind him, "the answer to that is _definitely yes_ , and perhaps with a side of, _pretty obvious, isn't it?_ "

The patient whimpers, and Cameron's warning cough turns into a sharp poke at the small of his back.

"Fine," he relents, "I can see that's not what you wanted to hear, good, because one round of antibiotics and you'll be walking out of here soon enough," and at the man's incredulous glance (that rapidly turns into a fuming glare), House shrugs and explains, "I never said you were dying _today_."

 

 **La Femme Nikita** (Michael). Prompt: _putting down roots means only there will be something to burn_

Michael is the best because he has no option, because he's been given a reason to withstand torture more important than the lives of thousands and the secrets of nations.

A son.

If he breaks, he'll tell it all, and none of these monsters can know. Caring for someone means only that he's made them a target, and he will not betray his little boy. So he guards Section's secrets behind the memories of Adam, and then pushes it all to the darkest corner of his mind, where not even his screams and his pain can reach them.

 

 **Once Upon A Time** (Belle/Rumpelstiltskin). Prompt: _"I won't forget you," [pronoun] lied._

Rumpelstiltskin didn't blame her; he _couldn't_. Belle was gone, swept aside by the magic at the townline, and Lacey wasn't the kind to keep someone else's promises.

It wasn't as if they'd made a deal, he didn't have even that thin thread of magic to trace his lost True Love; instead he had a stranger wearing Belle's body, smiling the wrong smile on her lips, and watching him with the same blue eyes but never seeing the better man he could be (the man he should try to become, _wanted_ to, but what was the point when Belle wasn't there?)

 _I love you_ , Belle had said, and within those words Rumpelstiltskin had heard more: _I'll never leave you_ and _I won't forget you again_.

Lies, all lies, but he couldn't even blame her for them.

 

 **Once Upon A Time** (Belle/Rumpelstiltskin). Prompt: _Could is different from should is different from would_

He glances up at Belle, and for the first time in centuries knows a feeling of wonder as he admits that she's not pretending good cheer to gain his approval. How can she be real, this girl who sits so comfortably before him, and smiles, and talks of love with so much brightness when she's doomed to walk within the halls of the Dark Castle forever?

He thinks of letting her go; he could, you know. Command her to leave, to run, to go far away and never let her shadow touch his lands, not even once. To never smile at him again. But should he? Of course not! It'd set a bad precedent, the worst! She's part and partner in a deal made in good faith, the ogres have been slain and her town saved, and Rumpelstiltskin will not let it be known that he was shorted of his fair payment - and how fair she is!

But Belle smiles, and she laughs, and best to keep this memory of her than to watch her dim and fade before his eyes.

He is selfish, always has been and will never change.

That's why he lets her go.

 

 **Once Upon A Time** (Regina). Prompt: _There's room at the top they are telling you still but first you must learn how to smile as you kill_

"You will be queen," she heard day after day, until all she longed for was to escape her mother's voice, and then to do it while running on horseback along the fields, a sweet boy's hand held in hers. "You will have your revenge, dearie, and so much more," she heard later, and she liked these words better when there was so little else to like.

There were years between those events, Regina knows that; she also knows that there was no straight line drawn between them, that nobody marked the way and pushed her along, and yet it's her footsteps treading along each inch of it. Always her choice, always her will, always going further, climbing higher, smiling as everyone else lost their grip and fell - or got some help to rush their way down.

Nobody told her that it would be so lonely once she reached the top.

 

 **Once Upon A Time** (Rumpelstiltskin). Prompt: _They hurt you at home and they hit you at school - they hate you if you're clever and they despise a fool._

As the decades pass, his reputations grows (grows claws and fangs, a perfect match for the rest of him) and Rumpelstiltskin listens gleefully as the stories spread and folk across the country and other lands cringe in terror at his name even as they use it to summon him.

People had sneered down at him once, had seen him defeated and never offered the least of help. Now they hate him (and he doesn't care), and they fear him (and he laughs, but doesn't really care), and they're all tiny steps to thread on as he searches for his son (and Bae is still gone, so _why_ should he care?)

He is cursed for his clever tricks, for the deals he holds to the letter (for everyone except himself); he is reviled now for his dark power, just as his name was a foul curse when he was a poor broken fool.

Hate is hate, and they all have hated him (except one, if he can find him), but Rumpelstiltskin still knows which kind he'd rather take.


	18. Multifandom - 9 words

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Written at [Comment Fic](http://comment-fic.livejournal.com/673757.html)

**original** _Prompt: time travel_

"Whatever you do," her teacher (her lover, in several of those futures; her killer, in some others) tells her earnestly, "don't mess with the timeline."

But he died in the original version, and if she can't save the world and him at the same time, then it's because she hasn't tried enough times yet.

 

**reader's choice** _Prompt: repeat_

They love. They yearn. They fight and break.

Repeat.

 

**reader's choice** _Prompt: the end_

"...and they lived happily ever after."

"Is that the end?"

"No, just the beginning of their story together."

 

**reader's choice** _Prompt: unhallowed ground_

The dead lie unburied, a curse upon the land.

 

**reader's choice** _Prompt: sword_

Wielding a sword doesn't make a man a warrior.

 

**reader's choice** _Prompt: promises, promises_

"I'll come back."

"I'll be waiting."

Did they count as promises when both knew the other was lying?

 

**fairytales** (Cinderella) _Prompt: midnight_

Midnight.

Her dress turns to rags. The pumpkin rots, and the mice invade the castle.

Cinderella dances on.

 

**Avatar: the last Airbender** (Katara) _Prompt: drown_

She never confesses to Aang that, once, she would have gladly drowned the whole of the Fire Nation.

 

**Blood+** (Hagi/Saya) _Prompt: violence_

Saya patiently taught him how to play the cello. 

Now his young mistress is gone, her music muted under fierce battle cries. But if Hagi must learn about violence, he's glad it's still because of her.

 

**Buffy the Vampire Slayer** (Buffy  & Angelus) _Prompt: soulless_

"Stop looking for your boyfriend, Buff. He's dead now."

 

**Buffy the Vampire Slayer** (Buffy/Angel) _Prompt: forgiveness_

He turned on her and terrified her friends. She sent him to hell just when he'd returned to himself.

Their worst sins, and the easiest to forgive.

 

**Buffy the Vampire Slayer** (Buffy/Angel) _Prompt: heartbroken_

Her heart is broken but they're safer now. It hurts to admit, but Angel made the right choice.

 

**Buffy the Vampire Slayer** (Buffy/Angel) _Prompt: unconventional problems_

"And the curse?"

Buffy shrugs. "We work around it."

 

**Buffy the Vampire Slayer** (Buffy) _Prompt: sanctuary_

Death was peace and true happiness. Even years after her return to the living, Buffy must remind herself not to follow the call of the other side.

 

**Buffy the Vampire Slayer** (Buffy) _Prompt: ash_

The next time, Buffy wanted her body cremated and the ashes spread over the world.

Enough was enough.

 

**Buffy the Vampire Slayer** (Faith) _Prompt: faith_

Want. Take. Have.

The only way to stay alive.

 

**Buffy the Vampire Slayer** (Buffy  & Giles) _Prompt: fashion_

"Buffy, you can't keep tracking vampires by their old-fashioned clothing."

"This is California, Giles. Of course I can."

 

**Buffy the Vampire Slayer** (Giles) _Prompt: loyalty_

His loyalty should be to the Watcher's Council first, because that's how it has lasted through the centuries.

But then Giles meets the Slayer, who has only a few years, and wouldn't she need it more?

 

**Buffy the Vampire Slayer** (Giles) _Prompt: treachery_

Buffy's eighteenth birthday approaches. 

How he dreads that day.

 

**Buffy the Vampire Slayer** (Giles) _Prompt: fire_

Getting fired as Buffy's Watcher was for the best.

 

**Buffy the Vampire Slayer** (First Watchers) _Prompt: next_

They return home, exhausted but exulted. The world is safe, for they've raised a Slayer to save them all. And if this girl will die, and the one afterwards, there will always be a next one.

 

**Buffy the Vampire Slayer** (Slayers) _Prompt: chance and choice_

Fate chooses them as Slayers, but how they live their lives is their own choice from now on.

 

**Buffy the Vampire Slayer** (Xander) _Prompt: dreams become reality_

Killer clowns. Xander _hated_ clowns. Why couldn't he have had nightmares of a giant chocolate ice cream instead?

 

**Firefly** (Simon) _Prompt: despair_

His parents ignore him. His friends avoid him. His colleagues complain that his focus is elsewhere. 

They all counsel to let it go, that River is in good hands.

But _River_ says otherwise, and Simon despairs that he won't get anyone to listen to her.

 

**Firefly** (River) _Prompt: music_

They cut into her, with knives and needles and their own secrets, and wired her all wrong afterwards. They crammed things in, buried a screaming girl under their filth.

But River still remembers how to dance.

 

**Firefly** (Jayne) _Prompt: adoration_

He's never lied to his ma, but this time he asks the Shepherd to sign as proof that Jayne's telling the truth. There's a statue somewhere in the 'verse, and sure, the whole thing is messed up, but his ma doesn't need to know _that_.

 

**Gilmore Girls** (Lorelai/Luke) _Prompt: black coffee on a cold morning_

Stars Hollow knows their traditions, and is used to the choreographies of their neighbors.

Not even on the coldest winter morning would anyone take the steaming coffee cup waiting on the counter at Luke's. Lorelai will sweep in, grabs her coffee and kiss her husband, and Stars Hollow is content to start another day.

 

**Highlander** (Methos) _Prompt: the rider of the pale horse_

Legends are tricky. Memories can fade.

In other stories, they call him the knight on a white horse.

 

**MCU** (Darcy/Steve) _Prompt: apartment_

Steve might have lost a couple decades, but some things stayed the same. "It's not a safe neighborhood," he tried again.

Darcy rolled her eyes. "I'm Captain America's _girlfriend_ ," she explained. "Only an idiot would try to mug me - and I can handle the idiots."

 

**MCU** (Darcy/Steve) _Prompt: Asgard_

Darcy grins from ear to ear. "When in Rome," she tells him cheerily, and hands him the leather.

 

**Mercy Thompson** (Mercy  & Coyote) _Prompt: magic_

Mercy stares at the man who is and never was her father. "It'd be nice to know what kind of magic a coyote walker actually has."

"Wouldn't it?" Coyote grins cheekily. "Can't wait to find out."

 

**Mercy Thompson** (Margi  & Mercy) _Prompt: wolves_

Margi wishes to keep her child, but at Aspen Creek it's obvious that Mercy belongs among the wolves.

 

**Once Upon A Time** (Cora/Henry) _Prompt: dark_

His beautiful wife, the newest jewel in his father's court. Cora shines among the nobles, a husband's true treasure.

But her dark moods aren't easily appeased, and her power grows darker every day.

He could have loved her, but instead Henry's too afraid to try.

 

**Once Upon A Time** (Emma) _Prompt: release_

Emma counts down the days to her release. She won't be a kid, a thief, or a mother.

She'll be someone new, _free_ , and she can't wait.

 

**Once Upon A Time** (Regina) _Prompt: enmity_

The one thing sweeter than to crush Snow's heart is to see that fleck of darkness in it.

 

**Once Upon A Time** (Storybrooke) _Prompt: peace_

The war between King Leopold's wife and his daughter lasted too long and killed too many of their sons and husbands. If peace means that the Evil Queen must live and be forgiven, they'll take it.

 

**Once Upon A Time** (Belle &Rumpelstiltskin) _Prompt: lukewarm_

Burned, unsweetened biscuits, lukewarm tea, and terrified blue eyes watching his every movement. Scaring the girl was fun, but Rumpelstiltskin's having second thoughts about the cringing little thing trailing him in his home.

"Needs improvement," he mutters, but he still chokes down a few bites.

 

**Once Upon A Time** (Belle &Rumpelstiltskin) _Prompt: burn_

"Had a spat with the frying pan, huh?" Rumpelstiltskin tuts, inspecting the burn marks left by the hot oil.

Belle forces herself not to hide her hands; they're not beautiful anymore, but they're useful. "They'll heal."

 

**Once Upon A Time** (Belle &Rumpelstiltskin) _Prompt: fearless_

"Afraid of the monster already, dearie?"

She smiles. "No."

 

**Once Upon A Time** (Belle) _Prompt: armor_

"You shall be Sir Gabriel," she whispers to the dusty set of armor. It's silly, and Rumpelstiltskin would mock her for weeks if he found out, but she's so bored and lonely while her master is away, and even made-up company is better than none. 

 

**Once Upon A Time** (Belle &Rumpelstiltskin) _Prompt: wanderlust_

She lives vicariously through the tales of Rumpelstiltskin's travels.

 

**Once Upon A Time** (Belle &Rumpelstiltskin) _Prompt: hope_

She'll come back. (She already did once before)

If he goes to her, and explains, Belle _will_ return.

 

**Once Upon A Time** (Belle/Rumpelstiltskin) _Prompt: tears_

Later, he will remember her tears and her anger. It will be easier than missing her warm smiles.

 

**Once Upon A Time** (Belle/Rumpelstiltskin) _Prompt: blood_

He touches her cheek and he thinks, _there's blood in my hands, why doesn't she see it?_ But she doesn't flinch away, and she leans into his touch instead, and almost too late he learns that she always did see it, but she didn't care.

 

**Sabrina, the Teenage WItch** (Harvey  & Salem) _Prompt: Cats are never entirely what they seem._

For once his mother leaves without complaining that she can feel someone staring at her the whole time. Harvey smiles and goes for the promised tin of cat food - the expensive brand. "You're getting better, Salem."

 

**Superman TAS** (Clark/Lex) _Prompt: morning after_

The downside of dating a celebrity is _this_. Paparazzi give the profession a bad name, Clark thinks, and considers leaping off the penthouse window and flying back home. Because giving up his secret identity sounds better than the walk of shame through the crowd downstairs.

 

**Superman TAS** (Clark/Lex) _Prompt: pride_

"Pride goes before a fall, Luthor," Superman warns, already flying away.

Later Lex whispers into his lover's ear, "I don't fall, Clark. Not unless it's for you."

 

**Veronica Mars** (Logan/Veronica) _Prompt: spark_

Some couples throw sparks. They were a fire hazard.

 

**Veronica Mars** (Logan/Veronica) _Prompt: unspoken_

They haven't spoken in years, but Logan still has faith that, if he needs her, Veronica will come.


	19. Multifandom - 50 words

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Written for [Comment Fic](http://comment-fic.livejournal.com/686849.html?view=90320385#t90320385).

**author's choice** _How to exit the wrong shop: Walk about for 5 mins, Check a price tag, Furrow brow and say "hmm", Check watch, Thank nobody in particular, Leave_

Dildos didn't hang from a bookstore wall...

Too late she realized her mistake, but blushing and scurrying off wasn't an option. Swallowing hard, she browsed the water-based oils and the edible panties, noting the prices with a steadily climbing eyebrow.

"No, thanks," she muttered.

And, head held high, walked away.

 

 **Buffyverse** (Joyce/Riley) _feelings are real_.

College is still hell. Joyce remembers jealous glares when she walked on the arm of a handsome boy. Now that the boy is twenty years her junior, the looks are more confused than poisonous, followed by giggling whispers.

Joyce just smiles.

Their feelings are true, and nothing can ruin that.

 

 **Buffyverse** (Buffy/Angel) _love story in 50 words_.

They were fools. But they were in love, and those first months are still their fondest memories.

They never had a future. But for a little while, they had each other.

They had to say goodbye - and again - and again.

"This won't work," she says (again).

But they still try.

 

 **Hunger Games** (Peeta) _kneading bread dough_.

The hands are too small and still not strong enough to knead the dough properly, but that isn't the point. Peeta covers the little hands with his own, feeling the little feet perched upon his own, and teaches with a press of a thumb and the slide of his palm.

 

 **Once Upon A Time** (Belle/Rumpelstiltskin) _love story in 50 words_.

He lies. He cheats. He surrounds himself in darkness and laughs at those who'd flinch away.

She doesn't.

(Until he lies to her, but that's later still)

He's a difficult man to love.

She kisses him anyway.

He rages. Calls her a traitor.

She isn't.

(He sends her away anyway.)

 

 **Once Upon A Time** (Henry) _I miss you_.

The first time he came alone to visit, it felt weird. They had never really known each other, had barely coincided in the same world in the months they'd known the other existed. But family was important, so Henry persevered.

"Hey dad," he said, crouching before the gravestone. "Missed me?"

 

 **MCU** (Steve/Bucky) _I knew you loved me then_.

Steve feels his cheeks warm and looks away. "Oh."

Bucky laughs. The nerve. "It was cute. I was honored, honest."

"What gave me away?"

An eyebrow rises, as if to say, _what didn't?_ "Relax. You were just a kid, anyway."

"Which I'm not anymore," Steve says, catching on.

Bucky grins. "Exactly."

 

 **Superman TAS** (Clark/Lex) _heaven_.

Clark inspected the new bruises on his boyfriend's chest. "You don't need protection detail," he bit out exasperatedly, thinking of the explosion that no human hand could have stopped. "You need a guardian angel with a bottomless bag of miracles!"

Voice slurred by painkillers, Lex chuckled. "So you're heaven-sent now?"

 

 **Veronica Mars** (Logan/Veronica) _A love story in 50 words_.

It starts with a dead girl, with loyalties taken and sides chosen. It starts in grief, lashing out and hurting each other because, _why did you betray me?_

Cautious forgiveness comes, but it's too fragile.

Love doesn't breed trust. Justice isn't peace.

But their story is epic, and it doesn't end.

 

 **Wreck-It Ralph** (Ralph  & Vanellope) _upgrade_.

"Perk up, Ralph," Vanellope cajoles, digging the sucked-on and sharpened end of her candy cane into his shoulder to shake him out of the mopes. "So you're getting a partner - isn't that good? You _like_ making new friends."

"You don't get it." Ralph sighs, shoulder drooping even lower. "I won't even be the main villain anymore."

"Aw, come on, you'll always be my favorite villain. Aaaaand," she drawls, smirking, "who's to say it won't be a _lady_ partner, eh?" She chuckled when his head snapped up, eyes wide, and unconsciously straightened to his full height. "Thought so. That's the spirit, big guy!"


	20. Multifandom - 27 words

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Written for [Comment Fic](http://comment-fic.livejournal.com/689489.html).

**Author's choice** _snobby or cultured?_

"You're such a snob."

"Just because I pointed out that Van Gogh-"

"Snob," she repeated, but she softened the word with a quick kiss on the cheek.

 

 **Black Jewels** _treacherous_.

For four days every month, life with even the sweetest witch became treacherous ground. So Blood males became extremely judicious in the use of their Craft.

 

 **Buffyverse** _internet_.

Keeping tabs on all the girls isn't easy, but it's _possible_.

No wonder Fate waited until this century to unleash several dozens of Slayers on the world.

 

 **Buffyverse** (Giles) _despair_.

Giles despairs of ever making a proper Slayer out of a girl who insists on making friends, falling in love, and having a life outside her Calling.

 

 **Buffyverse** (Dawn) _summer_.

"Summers." The biology teacher frowned. "Any relation to Miss Buffy Summers."

"My sister," Dawn admitted.

"Hmph."

Dawn sighed. High school in her sister's publicly delinquent shadow - yippie!

 

 **Buffyverse** (Buffy) _hope_.

"How will we save the world this time?"

"Wait until these demons see reason and go away."

Everyone stared,

Buffy lifted her shoulders. "A girl can hope."

 

 **Buffyverse** (Buffy) _birthday_.

Of course the curse struck again.

Because nothing said 'Happy Birthday, Buffy Summers' like some half-demon cult targeting her as the ideal sacrifice for their demonic ancestor.

 

 **Buffyverse** (Darla) _lonely_.

Climbing the ranks of the Aurelius court should have been an exciting challenge, but sometimes Darla found herself wishing for someone who would properly appreciate her success.

 

 **Firefly** (Zöe  & Mal) _vulnerable_.

"We're too vulnerable here," Zöe muttered, eyeing the high trees around them. "If we're quiet-"

Mal fired. A body hit the ground.

Zöe shrugged. "That works, too."

 

 **Fullmetal Alchemist** (Riza  & Roy + Black Hayate) _Fetch!_

The ball rolled unbothered. "Lazy dog." Roy snorted.

Riza clicked her fingers.

Black Hayate immediately bounced up.

Well, it knew who was boss. "Smart dog," Roy amended.

 

 **Fullmetal Alchemist** (Winry) _eager_.

Unlike the Elric brothers, Winry doesn't enjoy traveling.

With one exception.

"ED!" she yells impatiently, thinking of the newest breakthroughs at Rush Valley.."We'll miss the train!"

 

 **House M.D.** (Cuddy  & House) _drunk_.

"You're drunk."

House shrugged and leaned so close down that Cuddy reared back at his breath. "Since this isn't work," he said, leering, "do you really care?"

 

 **La femme Nikita** (Michael) _loyalty_.

They turned him into a weapon, and expect that his loyalty be only for Section One even if they'd have killed his son.

Michael bides his time.

 

 **MCU** (Darcy/Steve) _blood_.

"It's just a scratch," Darcy insists, hating to see him so bothered. "Bet you've seen worse."

But his face goes stark pale, and Darcy regrets her words.

 

 **MCU** (Darcy/Steve) _breakfast_.

Darcy eyed the tray with distrust. "What did you do?"

"Er... Breakfast?"

"So there's nothing you're feeling guilty about?" Steve looked confused, so she smiled. "Never mind."

 

 **Once Upon A Time** (Belle/Rumpelstiltskin, 5A finale) _No_.

Belle curled into him, already sleepy. "Do you believe we'll be happy this time?"

_No._

He's on borrowed time. Again.

And again he lies.

"Of course, sweetheart."

 

 **Once Upon A Time** (Belle  & Rumpelstiltskin) _Oooops!_

"Um... Rumple? Was the glass vase with the golden etchings very important?"

"Important? No." Her sigh of relief came too early. "Unique and priceless, but of course!"

 

 **Once Upon A Time** (Belle  & Rumpelstiltskin) _target_

His encounter with the three witches proves that Belle makes too easy a target. He could send her away, of course.

He extends the castle's wards instead.

 

 **Once Upon A Time** (Belle  & Rumpelstiltskin) _trust_

Belle thinks of doing Rumpelstiltskin's bidding. Go to town. Fetch new straw. But he refuses to trust that she'll come back and she deserves better.

She stays.

 

 **Once Upon A Time** (Belle  & Rumpelstiltskin) _day off_

Rumpelstiltskin had chased her off his tower, grumbling that she should stay put in her library and not wander around.

Fine!

He'd change his tune at dinnertime!

 

 **Once Upon A Time** (Belle  & Rumpelstiltskin) _dinner_

Trial and error became Belle's teacher in the kitchen. One day the meat would be too rare, and burned the next.

But eventually she'd get it right.

 

 **Once Upon A Time** (Belle  & Rumpelstiltskin) _dessert_

"What is this?"

"...Dessert."

Rumpelstiltskin wanted to say that he'd seen more appetizing mixtures in his laboratory, but Belle already looked miserable.

One bite wouldn't kill him...

 

 **Once Upon A Time** (Jefferson) _power_

Of course Jefferson kept track of Belle. The girl had no power other than the Dark One's regard... which meant she was the most powerful of all.

 

 **Pushing Daisies** (Chuck/Ned) _kisses and pie_.

On their most daring moments, Chuck covers her lips with the gooey filling from the pie they're sharing, and while neither even dares to breathe, kisses him.

 

 **Superman: TAS** (Clark/Lex) _red_.

Lex wakes up practically swallowed in thick red fabric. "This cape is ridiculous," he grumbles, untangling himself.

Clark admires the view. "But it looks great on you."

 

 **Superman: TAS** ( >lark/Lex) _truth_.

Lex grabbed Clark's face and pulled it down until their noses brushed together. "The truth, Clark," he demanded. "Just once, be _my_ hero and say the truth." 

 

 **The Big Bang Theory** (Penny  & Sheldon) _keyboard_.

Sheldon believes he's always in control, but Penny knows better.

Give him a not-so-virgin Bloody Mary and free access to a keyboard, and the truth will out.

 

 **The Walking Dead** (Daryl/Beth) _permission_.

In the world as was, Beth would have needed her parents' permission to hang out with him - and never gotten it.

Perhaps this world isn't too bad.

 

 **The Walking Dead** (Daryl/Beth) _family _.__

__Daryl wastes no time dreaming of settling down somewhere safe and raising a family. But he listens to Beth's hopes and, sometimes, he wants to believe too._ _

__

__**Veronica Mars** (Veronica/Logan) _lunch_._ _

__Veronica rushed in, hurriedly pulling up her hair into a neat ponytail._ _

__"Lunch break, huh?" Mac smirked, pointing to her collar. "Tell Logan to take smaller bites."_ _

__

__**Veronica Mars** (Veronica/Logan) _sweet_._ _

__She made cookies for him. Called him 'darling'. Smiled too sweetly._ _

__It should be heaven._ _

__Logan knew better._ _

__"All right, Veronica. What are you pissed off about?"_ _


	21. Superman - Clark/Lex

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Written for squidgiepdx at [Comment Fic](http://comment-fic.livejournal.com/695111.html?thread=91523399#t91523399). Prompt: **Crashing someone's birthday party.**

"What are _you_ doing here?"

Luthor shrugs past Lois Lane, not bothering to answer her. There's a round of gasps that grow into a steady murmur, accusations being whispered as Public Enemy Number One, according to the Daily Planet's last editorial, walks among them. The whispers become a flurry of confused questions as the goal of the uninvited guest becomes obvious.

"Shouldn't we do something?" Jimmy asks, tugging at Lois's elbow anxiously. "He's after Clark!"

Lois looks between the birthday boy and Luthor, narrowing her eyes. A dozen times she's caught her partner somewhere he shouldn't be suddenly make sense. "No," she tells Jimmy, watching a flash of a cautious smile light Clark's face before he hides it again. Luthor looks murderous, but not exactly as he does when he's threatening to make her life hell. He looks intense, and all that intensity is focused on Clark.

Jimmy makes a whimpering noise. "But..."

Lois shakes her head. "I have a feeling someone just found their invitation in the mail," she says, wondering whether Clark is crazy enough to invite Lex Luthor to this party (and yes, he is), and trying not to wonder why Luthor would accept.

Because she's known for months that Clark had the biggest crush on the soulless head of LuthorCorp, but she never imagined that it could ever be reciprocated.

 

The End  
15/02/16


	22. MCU - Pepper/Tony

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Written at [Comment Fic](http://comment-fic.livejournal.com/595049.html?thread=83123561#t83123561). Prompt: **how _not_ to maintain a secret identity**.

Pepper is so proud she could burst. She is also so angry that she's just imagined six different ways to make one Tony Stark disappear off the face of the Earth - and one of them includes shoving him into his Iron Man suit (sans the helmet) and dropping him off a boat into the deepest ocean.

It's the thought of his expression that lets her smile through the press conference from hell.

Only hours later, when the last of the reporters has been threatened with legal action if they don't vacate Stark _right now_ , does Pepper drag Tony away from the flurry of their team of lawyers, ignores his pleas to let him back to his laboratory, and shuts them both into her office.

"Are you crazy?"

"Pep---"

"You just told the world the truth!"

"Well...."

 _You wonderful, wonderful man,_ she doesn't say. So she doesn't hold it against him when he squeaks in confusion when she hauls him in for a kiss.

 

The End  
16/02/16


	23. Multifandom - 10 words (or 20, 30...)

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Written at [Comment Fic](http://comment-fic.livejournal.com/697000.html).

**Black Jewels series** (Ladvarian) _wag, wag, wag_

The landen may not hear his words as the Blood does, but they still understand what a wagging tail means.

 

**Borgias** (Lucrezia/Cesare) _puppy love_

Lucrezia loves her family unquestionably, and Cesare most of all.

 

**Borgias** (Lucrezia/Cesare) _alternate universe_

Everyone knows Cesare Borgia is too driven to bother about a social life, much less to seek a love interest. His one soft spot is his little sister, and nobody was surprised when Lucrezia moved in with him after her divorce. Of course she needs time to herself, after the disaster of her last marriage.

They keep to themselves, these young Borgias.

And what people don't know, can't hurt them.

 

**Buffyverse** (Angel) _my memory serves me far too well._

Angel remembers.

The blood he's shed. The friends he terrorized. The girl he hated and would have gladly killed, as revenge for making him love.

"You shouldn't be here," he tells Buffy.

Buffy doesn't quite meet his eye. "It's not like that," she lies, and he knows she'll come back.

 

**Buffyverse** (Angel, AR) _canon divergence._

He stays in Sunnydale. Helps the fight against Adam, keeps the unofficial custody of Spike, and watches Buffy try to fall in love with someone else.

He thinks of leaving several times, but an active hellmouth needs every spare hand.

 

**Buffyverse** (Angel, post-IWRY) _yesterday._

Yesterday his heart beat as he stood under the sunlight.

 

**Buffyverse** (alternate 'Hero') _might have been._

They can't defeat the Scourge that night, and the loss of so many lives weighs on them, but at least the three of them are alive to fight another day.

 

**Buffyverse** (Angel/Buffy) _thrice-told tale._

The first time ends because true happiness breaks any curse - even the curse that gave him a soul.

The second time ends because love's not enough. They're hurting each other, and they need to find their own ways.

The third time... The third time is now, and it doesn't end.

 

**Buffyverse** (any Slayer) _at the drive-in._

Patrolling this area had taught her quickly the difference between the cries from a monster's victims and the other kind.

 

**Buffyverse** (Spike, AR) _he beat the chip a week after he escaped._

The kids rejoice in his pain... and lower their guard.

 

**Buffyverse** (Giles  & Travers) _(f*ck) destiny._

"It's not right," Quentin says. "There's a reason we kept the other girl away from the Hellmouth. Having two Slayers now is bad enough, upsetting the proper way of things. To have the two of them so close together is..."

"The new way," Giles cuts in, and he hangs up.

 

**Charley Davidson series** (Charley) _slow motion_

Charley grabs onto time and squeezes it to a halt, until the bullet drags itself one inch at a time.

 

**Disney (Sleeping Beauty)** (Maleficent) _overkill_

The girl, certainly. Her foolish parents as well.

But perhaps cursing the whole court had been a little too much.

 

**Greek mythology** (Persephone) _a bite of freedom._

They'd have dragged her back to the world above. They'd deny her queenship and write off her marriage vows.

Persephone takes the pomegranate from its tree, and makes her choice.

 

**Greek mythology** (Thanatos) _beginning._

He wants to tell them that it's not the end, just the beginning of another life; but he'd be lying.

 

**Greek mythology** (Cerberus) _wheee!_

Cerberus races ahead, bumping the Lord of Hell out of the way in his haste to welcome his mistress home.

 

**Greek mythology** (Hades/Persephone _pomegranate_

He kisses her reddened lips, the taste of the fruit a promise that she will come back in six months.

 

**Highlander** (Methos) _pale horses._

Methos laughs, drunk on life and victory and surrounded by his brothers. He holsters his sword, wipes his hands off the blood, and climbs onto the stolen horse.

A great beast, this is, with its coat of pure white. Well worth the lives of the men who guarded it.

Methos is still laughing as the four of them ride away.

 

**Labyrinth** (Sir Dydimus + Sarah) _Ecstatic_

Finally, the day comes when his Queen comes back home.

 

**Lucifer** (Lucifer + Amenadiel) _ten words that bring Amenadiel to his knees._

"Father always liked me best," and that said, Lucifer grins.

 

**MCU** (Pepper/Tony) _Oh fu...dge_

"Fu---"

Tony mumbles the rest against Pepper's fingers. When she stops pressing his lips together, he gives her a confused look.

Pepper glances in Steve's direction.

Tony groans. "Well, _fudge_."

 

**MCU** _badass_

Steve waits until his girlfriend leaves, then glares at Tony. "How come you actually do as she says?"

Implied, of course, is: _and you never listen to me_.

Tony just gives him a look. "Because, my friend, some women are a lot more of a badass than we'll ever be."

 

**MCU** (Steve/Darcy) _suit_

Darcy stares hungrily at Captain America. "Leave the suit on."

 

**Mercy Thompson series** (Adam  & Mercy) _alpha_

Adam discovers quickly why the Marrok is so fond of Mercy Thompson. It's refreshing to have someone challenge a pack alpha's orders and respect his authority at the same time. 

 

**Mercy Thompson series** (Mercy) _full moons_

The full moon doesn't pull on her as it does the rest of the pack, but Mercy still shifts into her four-legged form, and a coyote runs among the wolves.

 

**Once Upon A Time** (Cora) _the queen conquers ._

Rumple must still have a soft spot for her, because Wonderland is the perfect land for a queen to conquer.

 

**Once Upon A Time** (Rumpelstiltskin) _disintegration._

He dreams of finding Bae. Of earning his forgiveness. Oh watching him turn into a man. He yearns for the time when he'll have his boy again and know for sure that Bae will be safe for the rest of his life.

One by one, his dreams turn to dust.

 

**Once Upon A Time** (Belle/Rumpelstiltskin, AR) _dissolution._

"No," Belle says, and watches the impassive mask slip into a look of shock.

"No?"

He would send her away. The idiot. The great Rumpelstiltskin, nightmare of many, powerful as none other; he'd pretend that he never stole a girl away from her home, that they never lived together and fell in love.

He'd erase their story, because nothing risked is nothing lost.

"No," Belle repeats, risking everything. "I'll stay."

 

**Once Upon A Time** (Belle/Rumpelstiltskin) _kiss._

It won't take away his curse, but neither will it bring back her memories. True Love's kiss might be the more powerful magic, but not when it's already been denied.

 

**Once Upon A Time** (Belle &Rumpelstiltskin) _No._

Does the girl do it on purpose?

Common sense says not to approach the Dark One.

Yet here she is.

 

**Once Upon A Time** (Belle/Rumpelstiltskin) _trust._

"I'm so angry with you," she says, tears running down her cheeks. "I don't know how I'll ever trust you again."

"Be angry, then. Don't trust me yet." Slowly he takes hold of her hands, and is relieved when she clutches him back. "But please, please, stay if you can."

 

**Superman** (Clark/Lex) _kindness_

Clark fidgets in the backseat of the limousine, trying not to look too guilty under Lois's glare. "So Luthor is giving us a ride to this major press conference out of the kindness of his heart?"

"Um..." He blushes. "Yes?"

 

**The Walking Dead** (Beth/Daryl) _games_

The sick games Fate plays, pushing him toward someone he would grow to care about and then tearing her away.

 

**The Walking Dead** (Beth/Daryl) _hunting_

Once she caught the scent, she never gave up. There was a real man inside Daryl, a man who cared, and ready or not, Beth meant to hunt him down.


	24. Multifandom - 1 sentence

**author's choice** _gods-born_

"Son of thunder," the people call him, and if they need to believe so to get over the shame of being ruled by a shepherd's get, he can indulge their imagination.

 

 **Avatar: TLA** (Zuko) _explosion_

One month back home, dealing with the Fire Court, and Zuko understands his sister a little better; he certainly is tempted to use a few explosions to terrify the most useless underlings into good behavior.

 

 **Black Jewels series** (Jaenelle) _orbit._

It is difficult to pretend that she isn't the Queen when people keep being drawn into her orbit and ask to be allowed into one of the Circles at her court.

 

 **Buffyverse** (Cordelia  & Dennis) _ghosts._

Still recovering from her latest vision, Cordelia takes the steaming cup from invisible hands, and smiles gratefully at her housemate.

 

 **Buffyverse** (post-Chosen) _fish or cut bait._

Even the youngest Slayer knows that at the end of the world there are no idle hands; if you're too young to go fight the monsters, you can still help sharpen the weapons.

 

 **Buffyverse** (Drusilla/Spike) _the colour of water._

Dru laughs as she steps after him into the shower stall, delighted by how the water turns red before swirling down the drain.

 

 **Buffyverse** (post-Chosen) _it's the end of an era._

They stand together, watching the crater that used to be their home, and they know that nothing will ever be the same again.

 

 **Firefly** (Zöe/Wash) _an ending always comes - but perhaps not happily._

Zöe had always known that their marriage would be short-lived, their life was just too dangerous to hope for a happy ending, but she still never imagined she'd be the one left behind.

 

 **Fullmetal Alchemist** (Resembool Trio) _springtime_

Last year they got sick and both Granny Pinako and Trisha got mad at them, so this time the three of them wait impatiently for the temperature to rise so they can swim in the river.

 

 **Harry Potter** (Harry/Hermione) _Learning to love flying_

Hermione climbs off the broom, laughing and her hair wilder than ever, and before Harry cam become too smug, she pokes his shoulder and reminds him, "But I still don't like Quidditch!"

 

 **Lucifer** (Lucifer + Maze) _run away with me._

He shrugs a shoulder at her skepticism, and just gives her the daring grin that earned her allegiance all those millenia ago, already throwing open the gates of hell and knowing that, even if he's not intending to lay (too much) waste to the world above, Maze will follow anyway.

 

 **Lucifer** (Lucifer + Maze) _I like! Drinkin’ hard, maxin’ Dad’s credit card. I like! ...Screwing him._

"You're such a bad, bad girl," her new friend purrs, and the approval in his voice makes her want to kiss every syllable off his lips (and, later, she does), but for now she watches him signal the bartender for another drink (and shouldn't a club owner be mad that her card... well, her dad's card is maxed out?) and offer it to her with a knowing grin as he says, "Show me more."

 

 **MCU** (Steve/Darcy) _her turn_

It's always such a hurdle to convince Steve that it's her turn to pay for their dinner.

 

 **Once Upon A Time** (Emma  & Regina) _co-parenting._

They have stood on different sides of a battle several times, but in this they are united: Henry is not learning magic until he's eighteen.

 

 **Once Upon A Time** (Rumpelstiltskin) _one drop at a time._

Carefully, he lets one precious drop of True Love slide down the neck of the bottle and land on the curse scroll - a single way out of hell, the road for the Savior to come back to their world and rescue them all.

 

 **Once Upon A Time** (Mr. Gold) _working hard for the money._

The pawnshop is one of the first to open and the last to close, and when Mr. Gold is not behind the counter, he's making the rounds collecting rent - because money is power, and power is all that really matters.

 

 **Once Upon A Time** (Belle &Rumpelstiltskin) _headcold._

"I'm fine," Belle insists, though the very words make her headache pound harder and her voice sounds funny to her own ears; but Rumpelstiltskin eyes her with exasperation, clicks his fingers, and the next thing she knows she's back in bed under her covers.

 

 **Once Upon A Time** (Belle &Rumpelstiltskin) _chain reaction._

It starts with a smile (hers), which leads into an unexpected show of kindness (his), which leads to laughter and long chats and staying together in the same room when there's a whole castle around them, which leads to girl falling from a ladder, and the realization that he actually cares, and, eventually, the choice to let her go.

 

 **Once Upon A Time** (Belle/Rumpelstiltskin) _it ends the way it was always going to._

They're not just characters in their story, and so it never matters who the Author is or whether there is one at all; they are the story, and for the Beauty and the Beast there's no other ending but happily and ever and after.

 

 **Once Upon A Time** (Belle &Rumpelstiltskin) _meeting._

Their first meeting is in a castle, where she promises him forever (and later falls in love with him); and their first meeting is in a pawnshop, and she doesn't know him at all (and still trusts him enough to follow him); and their first meeting is on a road, while she's hurt and terrified of him (and later befriends him), and their first meeting is at a bar, where she ignores him for a pool game - and, this time, he doesn't give up.

 

 **Superman** (Clark/Lois) _Loving a man you have to share._

Clark will always come back home to her; that has to be enough.

 

 **Superman** (Clark/Lex) _zip_

Yes, sure, Kryptonian technology is delightfully interesting and far more advanced than anything on Earth, but Lex still fumes at its failure to build in a zipper in that stupid costume.

 

 **Superman** (Clark/Lex) _enchant_

"Enchanted!" Lex splutters, pointing at the offensive article, "I'm a scientist, if I wanted to force you to love me, I'd _brainwash_ you!"

 

 **Superman** (Clark/Lex) _king_

Lex smirks as he watches the Embassy representatives scramble to create a protocol to introduce the last Kriptonian to royalty. 

 

 **Tangled** (Rapunzel) _my best friend_

The people are puzzled by their newly recovered princess always appearing in public with a chamaleon perched on her shoulder, but they don't understand that for the longest time Pascal wasn't just her best friend, but the only one.

 

 **The Phantom of the Opera** (Christine  & Phantom) _behind the mask_

She shouldn't, Christine knows this, but her hand still reaches for the mask that covers the Phantom's face.

 

 **The Walking Dead** (Beth/Daryl) _fork in the road_

 _If only_ are cruel words, always showing him what he could have done different, or how he could have arrived sooner.

 

 **The X-FIles** (Dana  & Mulder) _changes_

They are older, yes, but also wiser - that's what makes the difference this time.

 

 **Veronica Mars** (Veronica) _first bite_

Veronica knows that her boyfriend and father are getting along too well when they don't even squabble about which one will take the first bite off her for landing herself in the emergency room with a (minor!) bullet wound.

 

 **Wreck-It Ralph** (Ralph  & Vanellope) _chocolate_

The amount of free chocolate alone would be enough to convince Ralph that Becoming best friends with the ruler of Sugar Rush was his best idea ever.

 

 **Wreck-It Ralph** (Vanellope) _power outage_

Vanellope kicks the ground in pure frustration and groans, "Come ooooooon, right when I was about to win again?!"


	25. Bridgerton series (by Julia Quinn)

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Written for ELD at [Comment Fic](http://comment-fic.livejournal.com/684166.html?thread=90006662#t90006662). Prompt: **water stains on her hem**.

"Uh-oh," Colin said, eyes growing wide at the sight of his sister-in-law. He took a long step back, throwing his hands in the air in a sign of surrender, and helpfully pointing his pink mallet in the direction of his brother. "Your funeral, brother. Good knowing you!" he muttered, a little impressed that Anthony stayed his ground. "I'll make sure to tell Mother it was your own fault."

Anthony threw him a glare, but by then Colin was safely out of reach.

He turned to face his wife. "Ah, Kate...."

Kate said nothing, just stepped into the shallows of the lake with as much dignity as she could.

"I didn't mean...." Anthony cut himself off, aware that she'd never believe him. The height of their yearly pallmall game was to make sure the other lost as ignominiously as possible. Swinging his wife's ball into the middle of the lake was not just an underhanded tactic, it was a desirable outcome; and Kate couldn't complain because, after all, she'd started it.

But for Kate's ball to land close enough to the edge of the water that she'd be forced to ruin her dress or forfeit the game...

He really shouldn't have been surprised when the ball came flying at his shin.

"Great throw!" Colin commented, obviously trying not to break into laughter. From the snort that escaped him, he wasn't trying hard enough. "Don't scowl so, Anthony," he said cheerfully. "She could have aimed somewhat higher, you know?"

Anthony sighed.

From Kate's expression as she walked past him, the hem of her dress already dark with water stains almost to her knees, he would soon wish that she _had_.

 

The End  
22/03/16


	26. AtS. Angel

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Written for DreamMaidenn at [Comment Fic](http://comment-fic.livejournal.com/684166.html?thread=89996934#t89996934). Prompt: **under the sea**.

Angel knows they're doomed. No one stands against Wolfram and Hart as they have and are allowed to get on with their lives unpunished. Even if Wesley catches up with them, even if Gunn survives his wounds, even if he and Spike and Illyria manage to beat down the dragon and the army rushing down at them, they're still marked.

He has doomed his friends, and if he could do it all over again...

The sound of soft waves rushes his ears.

Angel tenses before he understands. With something that, months ago, could have been a smile, he looks around the alley one more time.

What could have been.

If he'd let his son's misery grow unchecked.

If he'd accepted the devil's deal.

If he'd rebelled and chosen to make a last stand.

The background dissolves abruptly, leaving him trapped as he's been for too many days already.

Angel closes his eyes, accepting that he is still in his metal coffin, sunk into the sea.

No rescue yet, and hope dwindling with every time he wakes up here.

But perhaps... Yes. Perhaps better this reality than the nightmare plaguing his dreams.

 

The End  
22/03/16


	27. OUAT - Regina

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Written for Tigriswolf at [Comment Fic](http://comment-fic.livejournal.com/684795.html?thread=90042363#t90042363). Prompt: **the last present**.

When she sees the glint of gold on her finger, what Regina remembers is Daniel's hopeful expression when he offered the ring to her. Her own joy at what it represented.

The boy she loved, promising to spend the rest of his life with her.

If she'd known then what she knew now, Regina would have tossed the ring back at him and ordered that he leave at once.

But that girl hadn't understood to what lengths her mother would go to give her a queen's crown. She hadn't imagined how easy it would be to reach into that boy's chest and turn his heart to dust.

For those few hours between happiness and despair, Regina had been full of hope.

She would run away. She would become a wife to a husband who loved her. There wouldn't be any fake smiles or haunted silences, like there were in her childhood home.

She would be _free_.

Or she would have been. If that snot-nosed brat hadn't babbled about.

But Snow White had betrayed her.

And her mother had to act in response.

Now all that remained was the small ring that proved she had once been loved. 

Regina closed her fist, picturing herself crushing Snow's heart. And with a soft kiss against the thin band around her finger, Regina promised her True Love that one day she would avenge his death.

 

The End  
23/03/16


	28. Multifandom - 3 sentences

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Written at [Comment Fic](http://comment-fic.livejournal.com/707580.html).

**Blood +** (Hagi  & Saya). _a walk in the rain._

"Here," Hagi says, shrugging off his jacket and draping it over her head, pulling a little so the raindrops can't find her; Saya stands stock still for a long moment, taking a few slow blinks and gazing around as if she hadn't noticed the weather until he'd intervened.

Then her gaze softens, and she fingers the thicker material as she thanks him in whisper.

"Let's go," Hagi tells her, but in the instant before she nods, he takes the chance to dry the drop running down her cheek... and if it didn't come from the raincloud above them, who cares?

 

 **Bones** (Booth/Brennan). _You remind me of just how lucky I am._

"Of all the forensic labs in the world, and all the genius doctors working in it, I can't believe I got you as my partner."

"It wouldn't make sense to look for a partnership outside your base city, Booth, and there aren't that many labs in Washington," Brennan pointed out, "if anything, given the greater pool of FBI agents, it was far less likely that you would be assigned to a case that needed the Jeffersonian's aid."

Booth tried not to smile as he said, "I was trying to tell you how lucky I am, but you know what, you're right: _you_ are the lucky one."

 

 **Buffyverse** (Buffy  & Dawn, Dawn/Spike). _improbable does not equal impossible._

For a long moment, Buffy stared with horror between the leather jacket on the couch of Dawn's living room and the closed door to her bedroom. "Oh no," she whispered, "Dawnie... Please, _please_ , tell me you're not sleeping with Spike."

Dawn made a show of rolling her eyes - "Really, Buff, what are the probabilities of that?" - and when Buffy sighed in relief, she inwardly hoped that Spike wouldn't ruin the moment by stepping out. 

 

 **Buffyverse** (Willow  & Xander). _chocolate._

If Willow was playing with that doll, then she wasn't playing with them, so it had made sense to grab that stupid doll and hide it - except then the girl had gotten sad and teary and.... "I'm sorry," Xander said, shoving the Barbie back at her, and when that didn't get him the expected smile, he rummaged in his pocket and showed her the chocolate he'd been saving for later and offered, "Want a piece?"

In the end he let her have the whole thing.

 

 **Buffyverse** (Lindsey). _hope(less)._

This is it, Lindsey thinks, pressing down on the gas pedal in his urge to _leave, leave, leave_. He only needed to leave Wolfram and Hart behind, forget the power and the thrill, and run far and away where nobody cares about a man and his guitar.

He can do this, yes; he can save himself.

 

 **Buffyverse** (Angel  & Spike). _true death is when the last person who remembers you dies._

They met every few years, sometimes by chance, and sometimes because they had an enemy in common, and more and more often, because there was no one else who remembered the woman they'd once loved.

"She was something else, even when she was kicking me into the nearest wall," Spike said fondly, and when Angel nodded, he added slyly, "Great in the sack, too."

And where that would have started a fight a few decades along, now Angel just gave a smirk of his own and topped off Spike's glass so they could both toast to the good memories.

 

 **Firefly** (Wash). _somewhere there is a sky, and it’s beautiful._

Of course he learned about the stars in school; he's not ignorant, just planet-based. For years, he had nothing but a thick blanket of clouds to watch at night. How could he have pictured the beauty of the Black, broken by those tiny specks of light, until his first trip off-world?

 

 **Frasier** (Daphne/Niles). _lost._

"But Daaaaaphne," Niles whines.

His wife just turns toward the car window, refusing to look at him and those pleading puppy eyes which always make her cave in the end. "Not this time, Niles," she says, telling herself she will stick to it tonight, "you're the one driving, you're the one who got lost, so you can ask for directions yourself!"

 

 **Fullmetal Alchemist** (Edward). _May the bridges I have burned light my way back home._

When they left, Edward had honestly believed that there was nothing for them in Resembool. A tombstone with their mother's name, a house burned by their own hand, and old friendships that must be left behind in order to focus on their quest.

Yet here they were again, sitting in Aunt Pinako's porch with Winry between him and Al, and Den snuffing softly at their feet; and for all the differences, for all the chaos they'd brought forth and all the bridges they'd burned, for this one moment they had a home again.

 

 **Harry Potter** (Draco/Ginny). _you're it for me._

"Relax," Ginny said, as if the Floo connection they were about to take didn't lead inside her childhood home, where six grown men waited for any excuse to hex him if he was lucky, and ignore him if he was not.

Draco sighed another useless protest: "Your brothers hate me."

"And they have good reason to," Ginny reminded him archly, but then softened, "but they love me more, and as soon as they understand that you're it for me - and they _will_ , or I'll put itchy charms on all their underwear - they'll... well, they'll let you volley back a few curses, at least."

 

 **Hollows series** (Al  & Dali). _green forest and blue sky._

Algaliarept never thought he'd see the birth of another ever after; after millenia trapped in a world where the surface had been ravaged by their own war, the sight of green forests in the distance and blue skies above them makes even a demon believe there's a heaven after all.

"What do you think, Dali?" he asks the demon beside him, "didn't my itchy witch come through?"

Dallkarackint takes in a deep breath of pure air and, slowly, smiles in agreement.

 

 **Lie To Me** (Cal). _the past is never just the past._

There are dozens of tells that reveal that a memory has sprung to the fore. It doesn't matter whether it's a happy moment or a remembered hurt, it will be there; the past shapes the present, everything that happened comes back to shift one's emotions, and emotions are always written somewhere on your expression.

"I know you've remembered something important," Cal says, hoping this detail will break their newest case, "now why don't you tell me what it is."

 

 **MCU** (Darcy/Steven). _vacation._

Everybody stared as Darcy strode into the room and, without a word, glared at Steve until he glanced down sheepishly, stood up, and started toward the door.

Tony spoke up first, "Um, Darcy... we're in the middle of an important meet- ah."

The sudden hesitation was due to the finger that was suddenly pointed straight between his eyes, and the look on Darcy's face as she snapped, "I don't care if the lot of you feel too inadequate to save the world without my boyfriend,-" which of course made everyone around the table frown in denial "-but I'm _not_ canceling our vacation a fifth time!"

 

 **Merlin (BBC)** (Merlin). _who lives, who dies, who tells your story?_

If history were written by the victors, then Merlin is sure that they must have lost; Arthur wasn't that noble, or Merlin that smart, or Morgana that heartless, and none of them were as brave. "That's not how it happened," he wants to tell the world ( _that's not how we lived,_ he means, and also, _and that's not why they died_ ).

But truth is something he's long kept to himself, so he says nothing at all.

 

 **Once Upon A Time** (Belle). _you said we were forever, but you've always been a liar._

She is the maiden given in sacrifice, and she walks willingly to her fate; if a lifetime will buy the safety of her people, then a lifetime is what her new master will get.

"It's forever, dearie," he croons, and laughs at her nod, sealing their deal with a grasp of her hand and an arm around her waist.

She knows that she will never escape him (but not that he will let her go.)

 

 **Once Upon A Time** (Belle  & Regina). _the spark of hope for freedom that no terror can subdue ._

"He won't come for you, you know," her captor says sweetly, sauntering into her cell and leaving the door open behind her, taunting her with the impossibility of escape.

"Why, I believe Rumple's forgotten you," the queen purrs months later, and her painted lips curve into a satisfied smile when Belle stops denying it.

But silence is not agreement, and better than anybody else Belle knows that nothing - _nothing_ , not a deal with the Dark One, and not imprisonment under the Evil Queen - can last forever.

 

 **Once Upon A Time** (Rumpelstiltskin). _hindsight is cruel._

He should have left her in the dungeon, hardened his heart against her innocence and kept her under lock and key until she begged forgiveness for doing the witch's bidding. And what had he been thinking, letting her go at all, watching her walk the road away from him just because she was too bright to stay in the Dark Castle.

And perhaps, he thinks late at night, when there is no soft rustle of skirts behind him and no hint of perfumed soap in the room, perhaps he should have never taken her from Avonlea in the first place.

 

 **Once Upon A Time** (Cora). _lost in Wonderland_

If she was meant to flounder during her banishment to this strange land, Cora just laughs at the foolishness of underestimating her. Even this place of madness needs a ruler, and they don't care for bloodlines or nobility.

If Wonderland is the place where Cora was meant to be lost, it's become the place where the Queen of Hearts is born.

 

 **Once Upon A Time** (Regina). _May the bridges I have burned light my way back home._

Before stepping out of her carriage, Regina allows herself to hold the heart that will seal the fate of the Enchanted Forest; it's still bright with love for her, still proof of a father's fondest wish to see his child happy again.

"Thank you, Papa," she whispers.

May that wish come true.

 

 **Once Upon A Time** (Emma/Neal). _rollercoaster ride._

Sneaking into the amusement park without a ticket was a piece of cake; she didn't even need to pretend to be pregnant or sick this time, and the lock they'd meant to pick had been open the whole time. For the rest, well, with all this noise, there was always someone too distracted to watch over their wallet the whole time.

"That one," Neal said, pointing at the highest point of the main attraction, and when Emma pictured the two of them holding hands as they fell and rose through the rollercoaster ride, she couldn't help but grin and give an enthusiastic nod.

 

 **Once Upon A Time** (Rumpelstiltskin). _blacklist._

"Isn't that too formal for deal-making?"

Rumpelstiltskin giggled, standing straight as he passed a hand over himself to show off his finery, proving to Belle that he'd meant for her to see and comment. "But I'm going to a royal dance, dearie-" and at her surprised _you were invited?_ , he laughed again "-oh, but I'm going to correct that situation, of course, can't allow people to think they can blacklist _me_ from all the good parties, now can I?"

 

 **Once Upon A Time** (Belle/Rumpelstiltskin, The Long Haul 'verse). _"Tell me the truth."_

"Traveling was fun," Belle admits, hiding a sigh when she had to avoid the comfy seat that had been gathering dust in her library, "but I found that I liked living here a lot better."

"With me?" he laughs, waving a hand before his face as if erasing the words before they can truly reach him, and then he presses, "Just tell me the truth, girl."

"I just did."

 

 **Once Upon A Time** (Belle/Rumpelstiltskin, The Long Haul 'verse). _tongue-tied and twisted/ Just an earth-bound misfit._

"Belle?"

He would ask her this time, point-blank, no room for her to escape, no option but to tell the truth about her soft expressions and tender smiles; but then Belle turned to him, blue eyes bright with honesty, and Rumpelstiltskin knew that she'd either put into words a concept he couldn't believe in... or she'd tear some thin, foolish hope into shreds.

"Never mind," he said at last, aware that he was bound to his curse and his darkness, and reaching for the sun had never done anything but getting him burned.

 

 **Superman** (Clark/Lex). _Eating out._

Lex just watched with amusement as Clark put the final touches in his disguise. "Really, Clark, ill-fitting jeans, an old-fashioned hat and thick costume glasses will not be enough to fool the press."

"All I want," Clark said stubbornly, "is one night out for pizza with my boyfriend without being followed everywhere, so you will try this and you _will_ be properly appreciative when it works."


	29. Multifandom. 27 words

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Written at [comment Fic.](http://comment-fic.livejournal.com/727500.html)

**Buffyverse** (Buffy/Angel, post series) Prompt: _dance_

Their last dance was a goodbye.

Ten years later, they sway together to a different song.

"Is this forever?" Buffy whispers.

Angel nods, and they keep dancing.

 

**Buffyverse** (Buffy/Angel, post-series) Prompt: _truth_

"The truth is that we couldn't have made it work, back then. Everything was against us; it was impossible."

"And it's easier now?"

"No. But we're stronger."

 

**Buffyverse** (Cordelia, AtS1) Prompt: _nail polish_

"Unless the world is ending at this very minute," Cordelia said, "you're _not_ going to ask me to move or touch anything until the nail polish dries."

 

**Buffyverse** (Buffy) Prompt: _different_

There was a girl who worried only about fashion and popularity.

That girl is different now. She saves the world.

(But she does it in cute shoes.)

 

**Buffyverse** (Watcher's Council) Prompt: _endless_

The fate of humanity always hangs on the edge of doom. But there's an endless supply of warriors, so the Council can watch and take careful notes.

 

**Buffyverse** (Faith  & Buffy) Prompt: _endurance_

"No wonder you've always stuck with vamps, B," Faith giggles, watching Angel and Spike spar. "What they lack in body heat, they certainly make up in endurance!"

 

**Fever Series** (Jericho/Mac) Prompt: _rainbow_

"Don't leave me," she pleads softly, clinging to him.

But Mac is coming back to herself. Soon, she won't need him anymore.

"You're leaving me, Rainbow Girl."

 

**Fullmetal Alchemist** (Winry) Prompt: _different_

Winry knows what her grandmother won't say: operating on two limbs is too risky, grown men haven't survived. But Ed is different. She refuses to believe otherwise.

 

**Lucifer** (Lucifer) Prompt: _faith_

Worship is his Father's province, for blind faith requires a strong Shepherd (and Lucifer dislikes sheep).

But faith can spring from friendship. Trust.

Lucifer can't get enough.

 

**Once Upon A Time** (Belle/Rumpelstiltskin. S2) Prompt: _different_

She touches his cheeks, runs her fingers down his palms, fingers the white in his hair. He looks so different here, but his smile is the same.

 

**Once Upon A Time** ([The Long Haul 'verse](http://archiveofourown.org/series/280926). Belle/Rumpelstiltskin) Prompt: _happy_

"If we could," Rumpelstiltskin starts, "would you return?"

The lonely castle vs. an unwelcoming town. There's no good choice.

"I'm happy wherever you are," Belle answers honestly.

 

**Once Upon A Time** ([The Long Haul 'verse](http://archiveofourown.org/series/280926). Belle/Rumpelstiltskin) Prompt: _grief_

"Don't you see?" Rumpelstiltskin growls, "My son is dead!"

"I know." Belle holds onto his hand. "But don't let grief blind you to what you still have."

 

**Once Upon A Time** ([The Long Haul 'verse](http://archiveofourown.org/series/280926). FTL. Belle/Rumpelstiltskin) Prompt: _love_

Theirs is a silent understanding. Rumpelstiltskin is still coming to grips with the idea that they could be friends, and Belle can wait for what comes next. 

 

**Once Upon A Time** ([The Long Haul 'verse](http://archiveofourown.org/series/280926). Neal & Rumpelstiltskin) Prompt: _forever_

"What will you do, Papa, when we grow old and you don't?"

There are things no child should know. Rumpelstiltskin just smirks. "You worry too much, Bae."

 

**Once Upon A Time** ([The Long Haul 'verse](http://archiveofourown.org/series/280926). FTL. Belle/Rumpelstiltskin) Prompt: _love is love is love_

Love has always been loud: a fatherly voice, bursting with pride; her suitors' declarations. But eventually Belle discovers that thoughtful gestures, though quieter, speak of love too.

 

**Once Upon A Time** ([The Long Haul 'verse](http://archiveofourown.org/series/280926). FTL. Jefferson + Rumpelstiltskin) Prompt: _bubbly_

"Now _that_ ," Jefferson says, bemused, pointing at the bubbly girl across the room, "isn't what I expected. More tears, yes, and less... well, she _smiled_ at you!"

 

**Once Upon A Time** ([The Long Haul 'verse](http://archiveofourown.org/series/280926). FTL. Belle/Rumpelstiltskin) Prompt: _endless_

Belle brings more and more straw, sitting quietly as Rumpelstiltskin spins an endless golden thread. Forgetting the grief over his child is impossible, but he tries anyway.

 

**Once Upon A Time** ([The Long Haul 'verse](http://archiveofourown.org/series/280926). FTL. Belle & Regina) Prompt: _loyalty_

Regina grit her teeth. All she needed was Belle's cooperation, but the girl was stubborn. "You're so loyal to Rumpel. What has he done to deserve it?"

 

**Sailor Moon** (Mars/Jadeite) Prompt: _first_

They never talk of marriage. Their first duty is to their kingdoms, not themselves.

When Endymion's and Serenity's households are united, though. Then there will be time.

 

**Superman** (Clark/Lex) Prompt: _kindness_

"It's a lost cause, Clark," Lex said, watching Lois storm away. "We'll never get along."

"You could try being kinder," Clark suggested.

"That's the problem. I _was_."

 

**The Walking Dead** (Beth &Daryl) Prompt: _rainbow_

Beth points at the rainbow far away. "In the Bible, it means hope."

Daryl shrugs. God can keep His signs, this girl's all the hope he needs.

 

**The Walking Dead** (Beth/Daryl) Prompt: _dreams_

His first thought is, _another dream,_ and he holds on tighter anyway.

But then he hears Beth's laughter. "I'm real, Daryl."

That's when he always wakes up.

 

**The Walking Dead** (Beth  & Daryl) Prompt: _lost in the woods_

"Never thought I'd be okay being lost in the woods."

Daryl scowls. "We aren't lost."

"There where are we?" Beth smiles at his glowering silence. "Thought so."

 

**The Walking Dead** (Beth &Daryl) Prompt: _endless_

In the beginning Beth had honestly believed they'd catch up with their friends soon. Now the road stretches endlessly before her and Daryl, but she doesn't mind.

 

**The Walking Dead** ([That Other Road 'verse](http://archiveofourown.org/works/7003792). Beth/Daryl) Prompt: _baby names_

Daryl wrinkles his nose at the next name on the list.

Beth laughs, but nods in agreement. "You're right. Too many little Hopes running around here already."

 

**The Walking Dead** ([That Other Road 'verse](http://archiveofourown.org/works/7003792). Beth & Maggie) Prompt: _different_

"You're different now," Maggie says.

Beth shrugs. "Just a little tougher."

But Maggie thinks of Daryl's glances at her little sister, and Beth's returning smiles. "That too."

 

**The Walking Dead** ([That Other Road 'verse](http://archiveofourown.org/works/7003792). Beth/Daryl) Prompt: _gold rings_

"Not sure if our priest's very godlike anymore, but if you want..."

Beth shakes her head, playing with the ring Daryl's just given her. "This is enough."

 

**Veronica Mars** (Logan/Veronica, post-movie) Prompt: _"Hey, it's our song!"_

Veronica laughed. "We have a song now?"

It'd been a good enough excuse to steal her from her friends.

Logan smirked. Kept them swaying. "Just humor me."

 

**X-Files** (Mulder  & Scully) Prompt: _Another Sunday night_

Normal people tried not to bring their work home over the weekend.

Which was why, pending paperwork under his arm, Mulder knocked on his partner's door instead.


	30. 6 sentences

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Written at [Comment Fic](http://comment-fic.livejournal.com/728117.html).

**Original / Reader's choice** Prompt: coffee with cream

Too sleepy to care that there was only one mug on the breakfast table, she grabbed it and tossed it back - just to sputter and gargle in shocked distaste. "I can't believe you really drink," she complained, tempted to rub the bitter brew off her tongue.

Her husband only chuckled.

Undeterred, she went in search for the cream, but he took her wrist before she could add it to the drink. "Darling," he said, "you know you're the love of my life, and I'll do anything for your happiness-" he waited for her to nod with adoring wonder before he continued, "but if you ever try to mess with my coffee again, I'll file for divorce."

She rolled her eyes, but her annoyance was short-lived and she even broke into a smile when a second cup was put before her.

 

 **Fairytales** _Rapunzel/Prince_ Prompt: journey

Her love's sight is returned, his dark eyes shining with grateful eagerness as he sweeps her into his arms and onto his horse's back, and urges his mount into its fastest pace.

Rapunzel looks back once, shocked into a gasp when her tower looks like a tiny shape in the distance rather than the whole world allowed to a solitary girl. It was a prison, she reminds herself, not a home; and even if she's still not sure of the difference, she trusts the man holding her to teach her. 

"Will we ever come back?" she asks her prince.

"Never," he promises, almost shuddering at the idea.

She had known this would be a journey without return, from the moment she defied the woman who'd raised her (the witch, her husband would insist), so Rapunzel nods and hopes for the best.

 

 **Buffyverse** _Courting Sin 'verse. Faith & Buffy_ Prompt: "I've come to burn your kingdom."

"Come on, B," Faith said cheerily, nodding at the kitchen knife in Buffy's hand as she put her hands in the air, wiggling her fingers to prove that she wasn't holding any weapons, "you and I know that you won't stick that in me unless I give you a reason - or refuse to play blood bag to your boyfriend, wasn't it?"

"Breaking and entering sounds reasonable enough," Buffy said, not showing any reaction at the reference of their history.

So Miss Manners had grown a thicker skin - good for her.

"What's a little unexpected visit between old friends?"

Buffy snorted.

"Okay, I've come to ruin your life and watch you suffer, but who says we can't have a rational conversation first?"

 

 **Buffyverse** _pre-series. Darla & Drusilla/Spike_ Prompt: devotion

Darla watched as the young vampire gave one last look at his lover, making sure Drusilla had everything she needed before he and Angelus left for the night. Drusilla gave a satisfied smile in return, waving him away when the smile seemed to tempt him into retracing his steps and climbing back into bed with her.

"That boy has no thoughts but of you, my dear," Darla said when their men finally left the house they'd appropriated, "but isn't such devotion so very tiresome?"

Drusilla rose from the pillows, laughing at the assumption. "No, no, he's a delight indeed," she told Darla, and then her expression grew mischievous. "Why, Darla, are you jealous?" 

 

 **Buffyverse** _The Unchosen One 'verse. Kendra & Buffy_ Prompt: this is a truth, fundamentally unalterable however you try: always, you will die 

"I'm not afraid of death," Kendra said, barely blinking after Giles finally admitted having finished the translation of a prophecy in the Pergamum Codex: the Slayer would face the Master, and the Slayer would die.

Buffy shook her head and protested, "There has to be another way!"

But the Watcher looked helpless, Angel couldn't meet her eyes, and Kendra's face was a study of stoic acceptance.

Well, Buffy had never seen the point of stoicism, and she refused to accept that an old book could dictate the future Death might be an unalterable truth, always there at the end of whichever road they took, but Buffy would fight for every inch ahead. 

"You're not giving up, you hear me," she snapped at Kendra, who did only stare ahead resolutely whereas Buffy would have at least snatched the stupid book from the Watcher's hands and hurled it into the nearest trashcan if it had foretold her death instead. "If you give up, then you're the one sticking some unsuspecting girl with this mess, and what if it's me?" 

That did make Kendra twitch, which prompted Buffy into laughter.

"Exactly! Do you really want the fate of the world to depend on _me_?"

 

 **Buffyverse** _Courting Sin 'verse. Buffy & Lorne_ Prompt: Remember, my dear — things can always get worse. 

Lorne pasted a bright smile on his face. There was a tense layer of blue on everyone's aura at the club, and an empty space five feet wide around the gloomy blonde at the bar.

Delightful girl (when she wasn't on a hunt), but there was no doubt that having the Slayer at Caritas was bad business.

"Here you go," he said, presenting her with a tall glass of orange juice and giving the tiny umbrella stuck in it a playful tap. "Cheer up, dear," - and then, because her life was something of a public matter in the underground, he added - "whatever it is, I'm sure it can always get worse."

"Well, the people who used to be my friends can't stand to be around me anymore, and there's a chance I'll have to betray them _again_ to save their lives," she said with a wry chuckle, but then raised her glass, "but my boyfriend isn't defecting to the other side and actively trying to kill them, so I'll drink to that."

 

 **Dragonball** _Bulma/Vegeta_ Prompt: affectionate when no one's looking

Bulma waved cheerfully as the last car backed off her driveway and disappeared around the bend. Her last duty as hostess done, she leaned against the doorframe and exhaled in relief; she loved her friends, but feeding and entertaining the lot of them required strategy worthy of an invasion into enemy country, not to mention the buckets of tact she had needed to diffuse the arguments and tone down the male egos before they had the chance to escalate into full-out fights in her backyard.

Broken roofs and holes in the walls weren't just 'collateral damage' when they ruined her own home.

"And the fools are gone at last," her husband said, coming to stand beside her.

"They are our friends," Bulma reminded him, but Vegeta just huffed in amusement, silently noting that her answer did nothing to deny his original assessment. 

"All I care is that they're gone," he said, snagging her firmly by the waist and dropping a kiss on her cheek, "so I can finally do this."

 

 **Fullmetal Alchemist** _Winry & Pinako_ Prompt: Hard work and no play

Winry just gave a tired smile when Granny passed by her work station to check on her. "I'm fine," she insisted, though her mind was a whirl as several attempts to improve a new design of automail failed.

Granny tsked, drawing on her pipe as she stared in disapproval. "You need to take a rest, my girl."

Winry started to shake her head, but then felt the soft fur of Den's head nudge against her thigh as her dog whined for attention. With a soft smile, she petted Den's ears and said with a sigh of resignation, "Guess I'm ready for a break."

 

 **Lucifer** _Chloe & Lucifer_ Prompt: Chole's birthday

As the mother of a five-year-old, Chloe was familiar with the need to nip a tantrum in the bud, but sadly dealing with a toddler could _not_ compare with a thirty-something-old owner of the hottest club in town who doubled as her partner and seemed to believe that she should always listen to him.

"No, no, and no," Lucifer insisted, ignoring her order to wait for her in her office and instead trailing her across the precinct. "I refuse to accept that you will spend your birthday in this dismal place with nothing but cold coffee and grim cases to keep you company - no offense," he threw offhandedly at a passing officer, who batted her eyelashes and signaled she'd be glad to be tempted away instead.

Lucifer smirked back, but his attention didn't stay for long as he realized Chloe had walked on without him.

"This 'dismal' place is otherwise known as _my job_ ," she reminded him when he caught up with her, an inch away from losing her patience, "you know, that thing for which I get paid and I actually like doing?"

"Come on, Chloe," Lucifer scoffed, "you can't really choose this when you could be with _me_ instead!"

 

 **Lucifer** _Lucifer & Mazikeen_ Prompt: Breakfast at Tiffany's

Maze leaned against the doorframe, eyebrows raised in what should have been disbelief but, when she spoke, it sounded more like acceptance of yet another new quirk of Lucifer's. "Why are you watching this?"

On the screen, a girl named Holly Golightly climbed into the bed of her downstairs neighbor - and didn't do more than a tepid snuggle.

"Oh, I love it!" Lucifer said enthusiastically. "Don't you see, Maze - so charmingly naughty, the wicked innocence of it! I swear I didn't have a hand in it, but damned if I don't wish I had!"

 

 **MCU** _Steve/Darcy_ Prompt: exhibitionism

"We can't," Steve tried, but even he knew that there was no conviction in his voice. Here, trapped between the desk at his office and his girlfriend's body, he felt a sudden longing for the past - specifically, for the good, sturdy walls that seemed to have gone the way of print and Polaroids. 

Brick or wood, he'd take anything over the glass panes that surrounded him now, giving a full view of his office to anyone who'd come by.

"Oh yes, it's three in the morning, so we _can_ ," Darcy purred, hands sweeping up his chest to rest at his shoulders, and then she continued with a smirk, "The question is, why won't you?"

And when she made to step away, giving him an understanding smile and a little shrug, Steve forgot about witnesses and hauled her closer.

He'd beg Jarvis to delete the evidence in the morning.

 

 **Once Upon A Time** _The Long Haul 'verse. Red & Belle_ Prompt: blue

Red had to agree with the prince's assessment about the Dark One's maid: pretty and sweet, and completely harmless. Which did not mean that she would lower her guard when a package arrived with the girl's name on it - a package with only one possible source, given the whiff of dark magic that accompanied it.

It had been disappointing to discover that the box contained nothing but a dress - but what a dress!

The girl laughed, already unfolding the dress and holding it against her, passing her fingers over the fine silk in giddy relish and even _giggling_ when she got to the golden thread that adorned the sleeves in delicate whorls.

"He does know that the guests shouldn't outshine the bride, right?" Red wondered, eyeing the beautiful concoction of blue silk and only a little surprised when she checked that, yes, it was the same color as Belle's eyes. 

"Oh, let's hope _not_ , or I'll be wearing a crown of diamonds just so he can be contrary," Belle said, daring to roll her eyes at the absurdity of Rumpelstiltskin's behavior (and earning Red's everlasting curiosity, as she'd never dreamed to live to see someone treat the Dark One so familiarly), but there was fondness behind the amusement, and Red wasn't surprised when, with one more happy laugh, the other girl danced her way behind the screen to change.

 

 **Once Upon A Time** _The Long Haul 'verse. Rumpelstiltskin/Belle_ Prompt: the last phone call

"Gold, hi!" Belle answered the phone, sounding surprised.

Of course she wouldn't be expecting him to call; it took only a couple blocks from his shop to hers to have a conversation in person, and his leg allowed him that much without complaint. "Hello, sweetheart," he said, gentling his voice as he realized that this would be his last phone call with Belle French, "I was wondering if you'd like to come over."

She must have registered the difference, because her tone grew concerned as she asked, "Is something wrong?"

"Not at all," Rumpelstiltskin said, playing with the vial he'd just recovered from the golden egg. "Everything is just perfect."

 

 **Superman** _Clark/Lex_ Prompt: together we will either rule the world or destroy it

The kiss had started as another collision between them, one more battlefield to fight over. There was attraction, of course, the lust for each other that had been a fact they'd dealt with in their own ways for a long time. 

Neither could have said afterwards who had been the first to turn it into a gentler exchange, but it ended with a soft sigh, almost wistful as they let each other go.

"Together, we could..." Luthor started, but he stopped when he saw Superman's expression turn into a disapproving scowl. "After all you've seen, you still don't think the world needs someone to rule it?"

"But we could destroy it too," Superman answered, and Luthor wasn't enough of a liar to deny it, "and I can't risk that."

 

 **Superman** _Clark/Lex_ Prompt: above the clouds

"You gotta admit, Clark," Lex said, leaning back against the custom-made seat, "if you must fly in an emergency, there's nothing like owning your own jet."

He had been so glad to finally have talked his boyfriend into indulging in the spoils of the Luthor's riches, that Clark tried not to miss the utter freedom of flying high above the clouds. "It's not too bad," he allowed.

Lex laughed. "What could be better?"

Clark took a wistful glance outside the window, but only smiled in answer.

 

 **The Big Bang Theory** _[Sheldon& Penny](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FsbWnud8ZAM)_ Prompt: rule of three

Knock - knock - knock.

"Penny!"

Knock - knock - knock.

"Penny!"

Knock - knock - knock.

"Penny!"

 

 **The Walking Dead** _That Other Road 'verse. Beth & Daryl_ Prompt: swimming

Their last bar of soap was a sliver so thin, it promised to crack and slip between her fingers before Beth could so much as get her forearm lathered. "We're running out," she called out, holding up the wafer-like soap even if she was aware that it would be useless bait, and indeed Daryl didn't even twitch, much less turn around.

When Beth had decided that in this new world, the embarrassment of showing her ratty underwear to the man she trusted above all others wouldn't kill her, she had not taken into account Daryl's sensibilities. She'd never seen a man change colors so abruptly or jump up to his feet so fast, as that first time Beth had announced she would be taking advantage of the nearby stream for a quick bath (and a chance to cool off) and had shrugged off her top as she spoke.

Daryl hadn't gotten far, of course, and even now he sat - his back to her - on a rock at the bank, his refusal to look at her ridiculous when he'd already seen her in far less complimentary situations.

Until now, Beth had hurried through a soaping-and-soaking, in deference to his discomfort, but today she felt like tossing the soap at his head and finding out how long he could hold to his stubbornness. "Oh well, if I can't get clean," she said out loud, wading a bit deeper into the water, "I guess I'll settle for a swim. Maggie and I always did this over the summer, though of course Maggie said it was no fun with any clothes on" - Daryl's shoulders tensed at that tidbit, and Beth mentally apologized to her sister even as she smirked at her success in getting a reaction out of him and couldn't help but poke further - "but I think... well, don't you think she had a point?"

 

 **The Walking Dead** _That Other Road 'verse. Beth & Daryl_ Prompt: getting a cold

Beth smiled at Daryl as she accepted the steaming tin mug and brought it to her lips. Hot tea had always been her mother's answer to the need to keep hydrated while nursing a cold, and even if wild lemongrass had replaced actual tea leaves and sugar was rationed, she appreciated the gesture and said so, enjoying as the warmth spread through her body.

"It's just cooked grass," Daryl answered gruffly, eyeing her carefully and giving her plenty of time to protest before checking her forehead and her throat for fever. His quiet sigh of relief announced that her temperature was back to normal.

At last, his expression softened as the worry of the last couple of days slipped away.

"Just like I told you, Dr. Dixon," Beth said, teasing a little now that they knew for sure she wasn't getting pneumonia or an infection, "nothing is taking me down anytime soon."


	31. 1 sentence

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Written at Comment Fic

**Reader's Choice** stargazing

His fingers paint constellations on her skin, stars burning and exploding, the sweet catastrophe of a supernova sweeping her away, and through it all, he gazes down at her avidly, as if he could never get enough.

 

**Buffy the Vampire Slayer** hopeless and lonely

The life of a Slayer was fated to be a lonely existence, with no more hope than of an easy death, until Buffy Summers came along and put things right.

 

**Buffy the Vampire Slayer** fireworks

"Yeah, I know this big hole in the ground doesn't look like much, but we like to call it the hellmouth that would've made the meteorite that laid down the dinosaurs look like a bunch of fireworks."

 

**Buffy the Vampire Slayer** _Buffy, post-Chosen_ getting your teeth cleaned at the dentist

"Okay, becoming a Slayer wasn't in your plans, believe me, I understand; and maybe right now you're thinking that it's too dangerous and the pay is abysmal, and I tell you - what pay? - but, hey," and here Buffy smiled for all she was worth, "our dental plan is to die for - except, you know, not literally."

 

**Buffy the Vampire Slayer** _Angel & Buffy_ first contact

Angel plans for one brief meeting, to alert the Slayer of his presence in town; the gift of a silver cross, to signal that he is on her side; and then walk away.

 

**Buffy The Vampire Slayer** _Courting Sin 'verse._ , bridges burned.

"Oh no, you don't understand," Cordelia explained to Doyle, with the gleeful smugness of someone who knows the best gossip, "Buffy didn't just burn her bridges with the Sunnydale gang, she makes sure to pour gas on the flames every time she goes back."

 

**Buffy The Vampire Slayer** _Angelus & Drusilla_ break me.

How could he resist, when Dru glanced at him with her sweetly twisted heart in her eyes, twining herself around him as she kissed his lips and begged _oh break me, break me, break me again_ without saying a word?

 

**Dollhouse** " it's everyone's duty in this well-ordered land to maintain little islands of chaos"

They keep them in that neutral state of innocence, never allowed more than the barest hint of emotion; but not even the Dollhouse technology can make them less human, and inside each of them lives the knowledge that they are not 'dolls', but warriors inching their way to the surface.

 

**Fairytales** _Sleeping Beauty_ blessing

All the blessings from the important fairies would have come to nothing if not for the little one who stepped up and changed the death sentence into a kinder fate.

 

**Fairytales** _Snow White_ blood

Lips red as blood, the people say, and skin white as snow - and they never ask why their princess never walks in the sun.

 

**Firefly** only one bullet

When it's you on one side and a dozen Reavers on the other, you only need one bullet.

 

**Firefly** _Malcolm & Simon_ bullet with my name on it

"Captain," Simon commented as he dug in deeper into Mal's thigh with the tweezers, "I don't think you've got a bullet with your name on it, but a whole arsenal spelling it out."

 

**Harry Potter** _Harry/Hermione_ Last

"For the last time, Harry, no, I will _not_ use the Time Turner so you don't miss the Quidditch finale!"

 

**Lucifer (TV)** _Chloe & Lucifer_ chocolate covered strawberries

Lucifer held the chocolate covered strawberry to the detective's lips, just grinning when Chloe sighed and bit into it because, no matter how she resisted, a woman had yet to turn down the fruit he tempted them with.

 

**Lucifer (tv)** _Chloe Decker_ All the things you should've said

One word, two letters; one of the simplest words in the English dictionary; and yet when it comes down to the important things, she finds it impossible to say 'no' to Lucifer.

 

**Mercy Thompson** _Mercy & Jesse_ a matter of time 

Jesse had been raised among wolves, and from experience Mercy knew that it meant that getting in trouble would only be a matter of time.

 

**MCU** _Steve Rogers (+ ex-Winter Soldier)_ justice vs revenge 

If there's a line between justice and revenge, it is one they draw themselves.

 

**MCU** _Steve Rogers/Darcy Lewis_ first date

"Maybe next time we'll try it without your adoring fans trailing us?"

 

**MCU** _Pepper/Tony_ break 

"Your boyfriend builds machines that are an engineer's wet dream, flies around in a metal suit - and let's take a moment to be awed by how amazing that is - and you are asking me to repair _a broken watch_?!"

 

**MUlan** _MUlan_ legend

There will be songs and legends about the woman who saved China, but Mulan's main success is to have found true friendship in that journey.

 

**Once Upon A Time** _Milah_ ocean

Milah often wondered whether one day her son would choose to sail the ocean at her side, but she still wouldn't press Killian to change their course back to her old village.

 

**Once Upon A Time** _Belle & Jefferson_ magic tricks

"I'm something of a one-trick magician," said Jefferson, tipping off his hat and sending it flying until, to Belle's amazement, a portal opened where it twirled on the ground, "but it's one hell of a trick."

 

**Once Upon A Time** _Emma/Neal_ paper flower

It takes a lot of imagination to see it's a red rose, but a real one costs too much and even if Emma wouldn't protest if he stole it, Neal doesn't want to risk having to run away on her birthday.

 

**Once Upon A Time** _Belle_ six a.m. sunrise.

' _How can it be six in the morning,_ ' she wonders as she notices the sky outside start to brighten, putting down the almost finished novel, ' _when a little while ago it wasn't even midnight, and I wanted to read only one more chapter before going to sleep?_ '

 

**Once Upon A Time** _Regina_ burn it all down

The people might plot of protecting their beloved princess Snow, but Regina will make sure that there will be no place for her to hide.

 

**Once Upon A Time** _Belle/Rumpelstiltskin_ it's gone.

For one moment, he had dared to believe that Belle had returned out of honest affection, that this really could be True Love, but then Belle mentioned the queen (and he remembered his quest) and the moment was gone.

 

**Once Upon A Time** _Rumpelstiltskin_ there's a new world coming

Rumpelstiltskin watches gleefully as the Dark Curse sweeps in.

 

**Once Upon A Time** _Belle & Rumpelstiltskin_ terror 

He thought the girl would live in terror of him, an amusing diversion for however long it took until he grew bored and got rid of her (so many deals to be made, when sweetened by the promise of a beautiful girl, and she would thank him for whatever situation he found for her if it was an escape from the Dark Castle), but instead she's started to _smile_ at him, and Rumpelstiltskin has the nagging feeling that nothing will go according to his original plan.

 

**Once Upon A Time** _Belle & Rumpelstiltskin_ comfort 

"I have decided that the castle will have a better chance to get cleaned during the day if you have a comfortable rest through the night," her master says, while rushing her through the corridors away from the dungeons and to her new rooms.

 

**Star Wars** _Leia Organa + Darth Vader_ regret

The girl has her mother's eyes, her mother's unbending steel and her bravery, too; but something that comes close to regret is that he will never know whether she has Padmè's smile as well.

 

**Superman** _Clark/Lex_ fling

For months, the media insisted that Clark Kent was just another of Luthor's flings, but after the first year posting pictures of the happy couple, reporters start asking about the possibility of an engagement instead.

 

**The Walking Dead** _Beth & Daryl_ driving in the middle of the night

The car had been a miracle, the last thing Daryl had expected was that it would run at all, much less that the tank would be full; the downside is that he and Beth must take turns to drive through the night to avoid calling too much attention to themselves and their newfound treasure.

 

**The Walking Dead** Beth  & Daryl _hope_

"I can't help but hope for something better," Beth tells him, and eventually Daryl starts seeing her point.

 

**The Walking Dead** _Beth & Daryl_ last ones standing

As long as she stuck with him, everything was possible.


	32. OUAT - Henry & Regina

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> still-searching47 prompted: 'Bad Reputation'.

Henry stared at his mother. He glanced over at Emma for help, but his moms seemed to have come to an agreement before calling him over. "You have to be kidding! You really are telling me not to be out late with Violet, because that could harm her reputation?"

Regina made a placating gesture. "We know you're a honorable young man, Henry, but..."

"Moms," Henry interrupted, burning with second-hand embarrassment. He couldn’t believe he would have to put this into words. "My birth mother was the Dark One. She stole my girlfriend’s heart.” When Regina glared at Emma over his shoulder, he rolled his eyes. “Seriously. _I'm the Evil Queen's son_ , mom. Believe me, if someone was going to judge me for hanging out with someone with a bad reputation, they've got plenty of reasons already!"

 

The End  
25/11/16


	33. Firefly - Wash/Zöe

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> still-searching prompted; 'Drops Of Jupiter'

His wife looked at the thumb-sized pendant he'd just presented to her, then read the card attached to it and raised an eyebrow. "They cheated you, you know."

Wash gasped in fake outrage. "You mean that's not a piece of the biggest planet in the cradle of humanity? No!" He even clutched at his shirt, right over his heart. "Now I feel so betrayed - the hurt! the horror!"

Zöe snorted at his silliness. "Come on, husband, show me where you got it."

"You'll smack down the guy who's selling it?"

Her smile widened at his eagerness. "Well, dear. He _did_ upset you."

Wash put an arm around her back, happy when she let him lead her closer, and bend down for a slow, heated kiss. "God, I love it when you defend my honor, woman."

 

The End  
24/11/16


	34. Firefly - Hogan Washbourne

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> stil-searching47 prompted: 'war'.

Wash had lived through the war just as much as the rest of the 'verse had. Lost friends to the battlefields, to the cushier jobs that had suddenly sprung and where the silent requirement was to drop any acquaintance with even the barest hint of rebel-like mind frame, to the sheer indifference to the Alliance's chokehold on their little planet.

When he'd seen a chance to fly away, he hadn't cared that the Firefly he'd be manning was barely put together, or that the captain talked more rhetoric about flying free than paid jobs.

He had not expected the war to still be alive within Serenity, though.

They never talked about it, the captain and his first mate. But their brown outfits shouted their true thoughts, the way they sneered at Alliance officials - and smirked challengingly when the officials sneered back.

Sometimes Wash wanted to yell at them that the war was over.

But he suspected the memories were a large part of what kept them going. Not everyone could have the endless sky as their fuel, so Wash sat between the surly captain and his surlier second, and did his best to make them smile.

 

The End  
24/11/16


	35. OUAT - Emma/Neal

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> still-searching47 prompted: 'Boxcar Blood '

Neal didn't need Emma's scowling mood to realize that the elderly couple from a few tables away was glaring at the two of them. Considering they hadn't stolen from the pair, Neal thought the blind animosity was quite unfair - but of course that would be easy to rectify on their way out.

The decision was cemented when, from the corner of his eye, he watched as they called the waitress to whisper indignantly because Neal had playfully kissed Emma's cheek before stealing one of her fries.

"Homeless trash," the man had hissed, so loud that Emma's back had snapped straight and that light that warned of her true temper had come to her eyes, but thankfully the waitress had only rolled her eyes out of the older couple's view and never bothered to even make the pretense of coming to their table to warn him and Emma against public displays of affection.

Neal made a point of walking past them on their way out, grabbing Emma's hand and timing their approach with a loud kiss she eagerly responded to; and then commented loudly, with a mocking edge that both his father and later Pan had taught him: "Only fools believe a home is a building."

 

The End  
24/11/16


	36. MCU - Tony Stark

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> still-searching asked: Choose Your Title Prompt: Iron Man - Tony Stark + Howard Stark - My Father's Eyes.

As time passes, Tony sees more and more of his father in the mirror. 

The quirk in his mouth - meant to look arrogant and really just an expression of utter exhaustion, because just the thought of having to explain himself over and over is already tiring. The proud set of his shoulders - and Tony has just started to understand the things his father was proud about. The look in his eye - defiance with a thirst for command, and always powerful enough to distract others’ attention from the dark bags framing them.

Then Tony speaks, and his words are different from what Howard Stark would have said.

Then Tony acts, and his father would have thrown his arms to the skies and roared in anger.

Because their eyes are the same, but the father tried to be all-seeing, to encompass the world and make the whole a better place. He wouldn’t have stopped until he achieved perfection.

The son has more modest goals - for all modesty is not a term he’s comfortable with. But he sees what he can touch. The lives he ruined. The lives he saved.

The friends he loves.

It’s a little world, the one Tony sees. It’s not perfect.

But, maybe, it’s not supposed to be.

 

The End  
03/01/17


	37. Chapter 37

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> http://comment-fic.livejournal.com/831070.html

**BtVS. Drusilla/Spike. pre-series**

Drusilla gathers her newborn child against her chest, traces the dry trail of blood that hangs from his mouth, and croons sweetly to him. “You are mine,” she whispers giddily, kissing the fluttering eyelashes and reveling in the adoring look her William gives her. “Some might love you better,” she confesses, then kisses his lips again, “but none like me.”

 

**MCU. Tony Stark & Peter Parker**

Peter glances at the red and blue cape forlornly, and can’t help himself from one last plea. “You’re sure, sir?”

Tony lifts an eyebrow and, sighing deeply, Peter consigns his latest addition to his costume to the trash.

 

**BtVS. Faith/Willow. prompt: safety in danger**

After a decade, Willow looks as helpless as she did when they met in senior year. Faith just smirks, because she knows that a witch who almost ended the world - and later managed a spell so great it changed the lives of Slayers forever - is one of the most dangerous creatures in the world.

Faith can fight off an apocalypse on her own, if that’s required; but with Willow at her back, she also feels safe doing it.

 

**OUAT. Dorothy/Ruby.**

They trust Dorothy, they always have.

They would have welcomed their friend’s true love, but it is hard for a munchkin to accept that a werewolf might be harmless.

It might have taken them years to accustom themselves to the idea, but on a full moon’s night someone catches Toto climbing up to the back of the great beast - and how could they let the little dog be braver than all of them?

 

**Mercy Thompson series. prompt: flowers**

“When a woman receives flowers without a special occasion to merit them,” Mercy told her husband, fingering the soft lavender petals of the arrangement that had greeted her upon walking into their bedroom, “it does cross her mind what they’re an apology for.”

Adam lifted an eyebrow.

“Of course, sometimes a gift is just a gift,” Mercy conceded, then rolled her eyes, “and sometimes it’s a distraction before I find out you did manage to dodge Mom’s invitation for Christmas… just to ‘somehow’ invite them here instead.”

 

**OUAT. Rumbelle. prompt: love**

“Why do you stay with me?” he asks, eyes wide because this girl has seen the worst of him and she has yet to run away.

Her smile is bright; her touch, soft as she caresses his cheek as if he were not a monster in a man’s skin. “Because I love you, of course.”


	38. 50 words

**Fullmetal Alchemist. Roy &Maes. prompt: ghost**

Ghosts have followed him since the campaign in Ishval, always a cold knot between his shoulder blades, the weight of dozens of accusing stares.

The friendly hand at his shoulder shocks him at first, it’s so different - and so familiar.

“You bastard,” he whispers, gruff with relief. “Thank God.”

 

**OUAT. Rumbelle. prompt: sleep**

It’s three in the morning, but Rumpelstiltskin isn’t surprised to find his wife in the nursery, holding their son as she dozes in the spacious rocking chair. Magic could send them to the more comfortable bedroom, but instead he settles beside her, unsurprised when Belle cuddles against him, and sleeps.

 

**Smallville. Clark/Lex (prompt: for all of Claek’s denials and promises that he’s over Lex, he gers INSANELY jealous of Lex with other people)**

Lex’s new boyfriend is sweet, nice, and smart… and would using heat vision to singe the ends of his hair be too wrong?

“You’re growling, Clark,” Chloe remarks, tugging on his sleeve.

He unclenches his jaw. “I’m fine.”

Chloe arches a knowing eyebrow. “Just invite me to the wedding, okay?”

 

**Firefly. Mal & Simon. (prompt: coming out of anesthesia)**

“Welcome back, captain,” Simon says, approaching the stretcher with a smile, a glass of water in his hand. “Please don’t—”

Mal attempts to sit up. Groans at the pain in his midsection.

“—move yet,” Simon finishes with a beleaguered sigh. “Haven’t you been shot often enough to know the basics?”

 

**AtS. Angel. prompt: avoiding direct sunlight**

It takes Angel months to step into a sunlit street without hesitation. In centuries, he’s seen the sun for one day - and that under the protection of a powerful artifact. He wonders what it says about him, that he trusts magic more than the new heartbeat in his chest.

 

**Gilmore Girls. Lorelai/Luke. (prompt: kinky)**

Luke sees her expression as Lorelai takes in the contents of the shopping bags. Rolling his eyes, he raises a hand into a cutting gesture. “Don’t.”

Lorelai grins playfully. “Rope–” She points at the bags. “–and ice cream. Please, Luke–” She bats her eyelashes. “–please, please let me say it!”

 

**OUAT. Belle & Rumpelstiltskin. (prompt: cookies)**

Rumpelstiltskin chokes noisily.

For a moment, Belle harbors the hope that it’s one of his little jokes, but he soon is making a production of coughing up a piece of eggshell and holding it up. “Forget swords and curses,” he mutters, “my maid’s cookies will be the death of me.”


End file.
